ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
This article is part of the Research TopicMolecular Mechanisms and Multi-Omics Approaches in Plant Secondary Metabolism: Regulation, Stress Responses, and Biotechnological ApplicationsView all 12 articles
Variation in Terpenoids and Antioxidant Activity of Loquat Flowers During Post-Harvest Processing: A Metabolomics Study
Provisionally accepted
Mingzheng Duan1*
Jinghan Feng1Na Gu1Qinxin Tao1Xue Wang1Jing Li1Zengqun Liu1
XianDe Duan1Tongfa Wan2
Muhammad Junaid Rao3*- 1Zhaotong University, Zhaotong, China
- 2Yongshan County Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhaotong, China
- 3Zhejiang A and F University, Hangzhou, China
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Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) flowers are an underutilized resource rich in bioactive compounds, yet the impact of post-harvest processing on their chemical composition remains poorly understood. This study employed a widely targeted metabolomics approach using UPLC-MS/MS with electrospray ionization in both positive and negative modes (ESI+/ESI-) to investigate how different processing methods, including fresh samples (FS), heat-drying (HD), freeze-drying (FD), and subsequent hot-water extraction (FSP, HDP, FDP), affect the terpenoid profile and antioxidant capacity of loquat flowers. A total of 193 terpenoids were identified. Freeze-drying best preserved the native terpenoid diversity and yielded the highest total content, whereas heat-drying led to significant alterations. Multivariate analyses (PCA, HCA) revealed that the hot-water extraction process itself was the dominant factor, inducing a more profound shift in the terpenoid profile than the initial drying method. This was evidenced by terpenoid content reductions ranging from 59% to 70.7% in the hot-water extracts compared to their raw materials. Accordingly, the highest antioxidant activity was found in the freeze-dried sample (469.38 μg Trolox per gram dry weight) but was markedly reduced in all hot-water extracts (143.39-189.54 μg Trolox per gram extract powder). Thus, processing critically defines product quality, with freeze-drying recommended for terpenoid preservation, while extraction optimization is essential to harness the maximum nutraceutical potential of loquat flowers.
Keywords: DPPH antioxidant activity, Freeze-drying, Hot-water extraction, Loquat flower (Eriobotrya japonica), Post-harvest processing, terpenoids
Received: 19 Oct 2025; Accepted: 09 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Duan, Feng, Gu, Tao, Wang, Li, Liu, Duan, Wan and Rao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mingzheng Duan
Muhammad Junaid Rao
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