Metabolite Profiling and Chemometric Study for Varietal Difference in Piper betle L. Leaf

Background: Piper betle L. leaves, largely used as masticatory, differ in aroma and taste with varieties due to the presence of diverse volatile oil and other constituents. Objective: The present study was aimed to profile polar and non-polar metabolites present in eight local varieties to explore varietal variation with the help of chemometric studies. Methods: The leaves, crushed with liquid nitrogen, were extracted with hexane (for analysis of non-polar metabolites) or methanol (for analysis of polar and some nonpolar metabolites). All metabolites were analyzed by GC-MS. Results: 42 Non-polar constituents belonging to terpenoid and phenylpropanoid groups were identified. A total of 75 other metabolites belonging to groups like amino acids, organic acids, fatty acids, phenols, sugar alcohols, sugars were found to be present in the methanol extract. Nonpolar metabolites showed seasonal variation in all the varieties. The varieties could also be segregated into different clusters, when analyzed by PCA and PLS-DA, on the basis of the different constituents. The contributory constituents for varietal variation were identified. Conclusion: It was observed that the varieties Meetha and Chhaanchi were distinctly different from the other varieties when analyzed on the basis of different metabolites.