Siddabasave Gowda B. Gowda

Grapes are globally recognized for their taste, bioactive compounds, and health-promoting properties. Despite its numerous health benefits, the lipid profile of this fruit remains limited. We applied a nontargeted liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry approach to investigate detailed metabolipidomic profiles of five wine grape varieties (Kerner, Kiyomai, Kiyomi, Yamasachi, and Zweigelt) harvested in Hokkaido, Japan, with fruits and seeds analyzed separately. A total of 245 lipid species in five major lipid categories were identified, and multivariate analysis revealed a distinct cultivar-specific lipid variation in Kiyomai and Zweigelt. Seeds showed higher lipid abundance than fruits. Zweigelt seeds had a high fatty acid abundance, including ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids. A sphingolipid subclass acylhexosylceramides was identified and characterized for the first time in these grape varieties and was predominantly found in Kerner and Kiyomi seeds. The specific and novel findings of this study may advance the potential application of grapes in functional food and wine quality development.

Naturally occurring inhibitors of membrane-bound enzymes offer therapeutic potential for metabolic disorders such as obesity and fatty liver disease. Sphingomyelin synthase (SMS), which converts ceramide to sphingomyelin, is a promising target in this regard. In this study, cis-9-docosenoic acid (9Z-DSA) was identified from the dietary seaweed Hizikia fusiformis (hijiki) as a natural SMS inhibitor. Inhibition assays using HeLa cell lysates expressing SMS1 and SMS2 a reliable model for membrane enzyme studies were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The nonpolar hexane extract ofhijiki exhibited SMS inhibitory activity, and purification revealed 9Z-DSA (47% purity) as the active compound, with IC₅₀ values of 4.5 ± 1.3 μM for SMS1 and 5.8 ± 1.8 μM for SMS2. Molecular docking and dynamics simulations indicated strong binding interactions between 9Z-DSA and the SMS active sites. These findings demonstrate that 9Z-DSA functions as a natural SMS inhibitor with potential as a nutraceutical candidate for metabolic disease management.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC), an important unicellular yeast species in the biotechnology, beverage, and food industries, has remarkable applications in ethanol production. Lipids in SC play a crucial role in stress management during the fermentation process. Despite the importance of SC yeasts, comprehensive lipid profiling across multiple yeast strains remains limited. This study aimed to elucidate the comprehensive lipidomic profiles of 48 wine yeast strains of the SC species using a nontargeted liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry approach. A total of 135 lipid species were identified, representing five major lipid categories. Among the SC strains, strain 19 contained the highest relative concentrations of α-linolenic acid (ω-3) and linoleic acid (ω-6). Levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids were 4.6-fold higher in SC46 compared to SC13, suggesting strain-specific variations. Glycerolipids were the most abundant lipid components, with triacylglycerols showing the highest relative abundance in SC10, SC41, and SC48. These findings should be interpreted in light of the semi-quantitative nature of the dataset. Interestingly, bioactive lipids, such as N-acyl lysophosphatidylethanolamines, were putatively identified and structurally characterized using high-resolution mass spectra and MS/MS fragmentation patterns. This study provides insight into strain-specific differences in the yeast lipidome and may help improve our understanding of fermentation kinetics and industrial wine quality.