Desenvolvimento de metodologia via Uplc-Qtof-Mse aplicada ao estudo de ecologia química em amostras de néctar

Abstract

Nectar is basically composed by sugars, amino acids and flavonoids, which play several important functions on vegetables. Through its chemical composition, aroma, color, and other characteristics; the nectar attracts pollinators to mediate pollen transference that is directional, precise, and efficient. However, non-mutualistic animals can also be attracted; yet, the nectar also has a protection function. In the present work, the optimization of the extraction and characterization of the attractive and repellent substances on the muskmelon flower nectar of the Cantaloupe type were done. The goal was to develop a method that contributes to the identification of the molecules that act in the pollination process. The samples were collected over two days and were submitted to a pre-treatment before being analyzed. They were injected in an UPLC system coupled with a Time-of-Flight (TOF) Analyzer and a Waters Micromass LCT mass spectrometry equipped with an electrospray interface (ESI), which was set up on positive and negative ionization mode. It was used the software MassLynx (Waters Corporation) to process the data. All possible molecular formulas were calculated, resulting in a board of identified molecules on the chemical composition of the nectar. Sixteen substances were identified, among them, amino acids, flavonoids and sugars. Through the method, it was possible to do the identification of substances that favor or not, the attraction of the pollinators, that way it was possible to predict the species that will be preffered by them.