Comparative metabolite profiling of four types of Korean commercial dried laver (Gopchang-gim, Dol-gim, Gimbap-gim, and Jaerae-gim) using LC-MS-based metabolomics

This study compared the compositional characteristics of four types of Korean commercial dried laver [Neoporphyra dentata (Gopchang-gim, GL), Neoporphyra seriata (Dol-gim, DL), Neopyropia yezoensis (Gimbap-gim, KL), and Neopyropia yezoensis (Jaerae-gim, JL)] through ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS)-based non-volatile metabolite analysis. Fifty-three compounds were tentatively characterized by UPLC-QTOF-MS analysis, including amino acids and their derivatives, organic acids, mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), nucleic acid-related compounds, phospholipids, betaine lipids, glycolipids, and fatty acids. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) showed that GL exhibited a distinct metabolite profile compared to the other three groups. In contrast, KL and JL shared similar characteristics, and DL showed partial overlap with the both groups. The orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model demonstrated a clear separation among the four laver types, indicating that each type has a distinct metabolite profile. In addition, the contents of porphyra-334 and shinorine, known bioactive compounds in laver, were higher in GL, with shinorine showing particularly notable differences. These findings contribute to understanding the compositional characteristics of different species of dried laver. They are expected to serve as fundamental data for the selection and quality evaluation of high-value-added dried laver.