Phytochemical Composition of the Alien Invasive Species Amorpha fruticosa at the Northern Edge of Its Secondary Distribution Range—In the Arboretum of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript entitled: “Phytochemical Composition of the Alien Invasive Species Amorpha fruticosa L. at the Northern Edge of Its Secondary Distribution Range – in the Arboretum of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences” was conducted to determine the total phenolic and total flavonoid content in the leaves and fruits of A. fruticose. Besides, the study assessed the amount and composition of essential oil in fruit extract. The method and materials were well-conducted. The composition of amino acids, sugars, alcohols, and organic acids was revealed. However, this study did not include the phenolic and flavonoid composition (identification of phenolic and flavonoid compounds) of the leaves and fruits. Identifying the phenolic acids, flavonoids, and other phenolic compounds is very important due to their vital role in the plant as well as their biological effects.

The following issues should be addressed:

1-Separate and obvious photographs of the whole plant, the leaf, and the flower of Amorpha fruticosa L.  should be included in the manuscript.

2-Line 93: Please add another more updated reference other than reference number 3 to declare the synonyms, the different varieties, and forms of Amorpha fruticosa L.  

  Reference 3: Scoggan H.J. Amorpha L. // The Flora of Canada. Ottawa. 1978. P. 3. P. 973-974.

 

  3-Regarding the Metabolome analysis of primary metabolites by GC-MS, Derivatization of metabolites by acylation, methylation, or trimethylsilylation should be done to convert the non-volatile metabolites to volatile components. How do you perform the GC-MS analysis without the derivatization step?

 

4-Table 1:

Correct Clycerol to Glycerol

Correct 1,5- Angidroglucitol to 1,5- Anhydroglucitol

“Quininic acid” do you mean quinic or quinolinic acid?

And please check the other compounds carefully.

 

5- Table 3: Please check all compounds carefully and draw the structures of these compounds.

Please correct Citronello to Citronellol

Copaene and α-Copaene refer to the same compound

Do you mean β-Seline or β-Selinene?

Do you mean α-Muurdene or α-Muurolene?

 

6- Please use higher resolution figures (figures 2 and 3).

Author Response

We thank you for carefully reading our manuscript.

Currently, our equipment does not allow us to determine the composition of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. We plan to conduct such work in the future.

1. We have added an illustration with individual organs of Amorpha fruticosa.
2. In this case, there was a technical error, as a reference to the source should have been included in this section. The error has been corrected.

 

3. We have provided a more detailed description of the methodology for determining the EO.

 

4. We apologize for the numerous technical errors. We have corrected the table.
5. We apologize for the numerous technical errors. We have corrected the table and added the

 RI  (retention indices) values.

We did not include the structure of the presented components, as these parameters can be found on the website The National Center for Biotechnology Information (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/)

 

6. We have improved the quality of the illustrations.

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper entitled Phytochemical Composition of the Alien Invasive Species Amorpha fruticosa L. at the Northern Eentitled" dge of Its Secondary Distribution Range – in the Arboretum of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences" was written in Scientific language but there are some suggestions 

1. Title not called species write Amorpha fruiticosa 

2. Materials and methods : according to the phytochemical properties you can add antimicrobial effect and antioxidant activity

3. Results. It will be more effective to compare the phytochemical of Amorpha fruticosa with its related species in the same genus 

4. Compare your results with related species

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The paper was written with minor English errors.

Author Response

We thank you for carefully reading our manuscript.

1. We agree with your suggestion and have changed the title of the manuscript.
2. The study of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the leaves, flowers, and fruits is not yet completed, so we have not included these parameters in this article.
3. Other species of this genus are not represented in our garden collection, so such a comparison is not possible for us.
4. “The paper was written with minor English errors”. We have corrected the English language in our article.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors wrote that currently, their equipment does not allow them to determine the composition of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. They plan to conduct such work in the future, so the title of the manuscript should be changed to be:

Exploring some of the Phytochemical Composition of the Alien Invasive Species Amorpha fruticosa L. at the Northern Edge of Its Secondary Distribution Range – in the Arboretum of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences 

Author Response

We thank you for carefully reading our manuscript.

1. We agree with your suggestion and have changed the title of the manuscript.
2. The study of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the leaves, flowers, and fruits is not yet completed, so we have not included these parameters in this article.
3. Other species of this genus are not represented in our garden collection, so such a comparison is not possible for us.
4. “The paper was written with minor English errors”. We have corrected the English language in our article.

Regards to the authors

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

After revision second version, I recommend acceptance

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Paper was improved in English Editing

Author Response

We thank you for carefully reading our manuscript.

1. We agree with your suggestion and have changed the title of the manuscript.
2. The study of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the leaves, flowers, and fruits is not yet completed, so we have not included these parameters in this article.
3. Other species of this genus are not represented in our garden collection, so such a comparison is not possible for us.
4. “The paper was written with minor English errors”. We have corrected the English language in our article.

Regards to the authors