Metabolomics profiling of traditional bioformulations: calotropis ark, dashparni ark and neemboli ark

The growing shift toward sustainable agriculture has intensified interest in traditional bioformulations derived from botanicals and microbial consortia. This study presents an integrative metabolomic profiling of plant-based arks widely used in Indian natural farming practices: Calotropis Ark (CA), Dashparni Ark (DA), and Neemboli Ark (NA). Using untargeted metabolomics (GC-MS and LC-MS), distinct metabolite signatures across formulations were identified. GC-MS based identification revealed that in DA, NA, and CA most abundant class of compounds were organoheterocyclic compounds (22%), benzenoids (21%), and organoheterocyclic compounds (19%), respectively. GC-MS identified 44 core and over 180 unique metabolites across the formulations. Shared compounds in all bioformulations included benzoic acid, 1,3-propanediol, 2-pentenoic acid, D-glucitol, 2-propenoic acid, inositol, and 2-butenoic acid, etc. In LC-MS, the most abundant class of compounds was lipids and lipid-like molecules in NA (33%), DA (32%), and CA (28%), followed by organoheterocyclics and organic acids. LC-MS data showed 619 shared metabolites (e.g., jasmonic acid, benzothiazole, cinnamic acid, octanal, 17-octadecynoic acid, etc.). This will enhance the understanding of composition of such bioformulations in applications to the sustainable agricultural practices.