Influence of drought stress on increasing bioactive compounds of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice. Exploratory study using LC–MS-based untargeted metabolomics approach

Abstract Water deficit is one of the most important abiotic factors that reduce agricultural productivity. The impact irrigation levels on bioactive compounds commercial pomegranate cultivar (‘Mollar de Elche’) was studied through LC–MS-based untargeted metabolomics approach. Two treatments were applied to explore crop responses timing and regime applications. main goal present study validate approach as analytical tool find new markers related with water deficit. Robust classification prediction model built use supervised technique, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). results revealed juices obtained from plants grown under DI r conditions experimented physiological stress, which significantly increased their (polyphenols, phenylpropanoids, peptides, benzoic acid, tannins, phospholipids) in comparison Control treatments. indicate controlled stress would increase production by increasing phenylpropanoids metabolism. New metabolites tentatively identified juice techniques. This showed, for first time, satisfactory application using an UHPLC-QTOF system identify secondary discriminate among different conditions.