Secondary metabolite profiling and modulation of antioxidants in wild and cultivated Euphorbia supina

•UPLC-QTOF-MS was used to study the phytochemicals of Euphorbia supina.•Twenty phytochemicals were identified in wild and cultivated plants.•Wild plants have potent antioxidants properties compared to cultivated plants.

The common essential environmental factors for plant growth are play the regulatory and signaling role in the developmental and metabolic processes of plants. A study aimed at determining the metabolite changes in wild and cultivated Euphorbia supina and their effects on its biological activity was conducted. These two plant groups were clearly discriminated from one another on principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) score plots. More detailed analyses of the extracts by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HRESIMS) on a quadrupole time-of-flight (QTof) analyzer was revealed approximately twenty phytochemicals, including gallotannins, ellagitannins and glycosidic derivatives of flavonoids the secondary phytochemicals in wild E. supina. The accumulation of these metabolites was responsible for the antioxidant content and activity in the group of plants, highlighting their potential utility in understanding the effects of environmental stress conditions on crop productivity and improving the bioactivity of medicinal plants.

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