Widely Targeted Metabolomics Analysis of Changes in Metabolites during the Brewing Process of Goji Wine

In order to investigate the composition and changing pattern of metabolites during the brewing process of goji wine, this study analyzed the changes of metabolites at three stages (pretreatment, primary fermentation and aging) during the brewing process using the widely targeted metabolomics based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray-triple quadrupole linear ion trap-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-QTRAP-MS/MS). The results showed that a total of 1 092 metabolites, including 195 flavonoids, 193 phenolic acids, 174 alkaloids, 121 lipids, 85 organic acids, 80 amino acids and their derivatives, 48 nucleotides and their derivatives, 45 lignans and coumarins, 35 terpenoids, 10 steroids, and 106 other substances were identified during the brewing process of goji wine. Volcano plots identified 260, 619 and 130 differential metabolites for the pretreatment, primary fermentation and aging stages, respectively. These differential metabolites were dominated by lipids, phenolic acids, flavonoids and alkaloids. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that the lysine degradation pathway, the valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis pathways, the phytohormone signal transduction pathway, and the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway were significantly enriched during the brewing process of goji wine. This study provides data support for understanding the changes of metabolites during the brewing process of goji wine, and provides a theoretical basis for optimizing the brewing process of goji wine and developing goji-based functional products.