Effects of sulfur-fumigated ginseng on the global quality of Si-Jun-Zi decoction, a traditional ginseng-containing multi-herb prescription, evaluated by metabolomics and glycomics strategies

Abstract

Si-Jun-Zi decoction (SJZD) with ginseng as the principal medicinal herb is a traditional Chinese Medicine multi-herb prescription that commonly employed to treat colorectal cancer etc. Previous studies showed that nearly half of the commercial ginseng was sulfur-fumigated, one of the postharvest processing methods that commonly causes sulfur-dioxide (SO2) residue and chemical composition transformation in medical herbs. In this study, the effect of sulfur-fumigated ginseng on global quality of SJZD was evaluated by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS based metabolomics and multiple chromatographic techniques based glycomics strategies. For non-saccharides components, sulfur-fumigated ginseng led to the emergence of sulfur-containing derivatives and alteration of saponins and flavonoids in SJZD. For saccharide components, sulfur-fumigated ginseng decreased the total contents and molecular weights of polysaccharides, changed the monosaccharide composition of polysaccharides, and increased the contents of oligosaccharides and free monosaccharides of SJZD. The alterations of SJZD were aggravated with the sulfur-fumigated content of ginseng. Those phenomena might be attributed to 1) sulfur-fumigation caused the generation of sulfur-containing derivatives in ginseng, which further transferred to SJZD, and 2) sulfur-fumigation caused the residue of SO2 in ginseng, which reduced the pH value and further changed the dissolution of saponins and flavonoids and accelerated the degradation of the polysaccharides to oligosaccharides and/or monosaccharides in SJZD. Furthermore, although storage reduced the SO2 residue in sulfur-fumigated ginseng, it couldn’t recover the alterations of chemical profiles in SJZD. In conclusion, sulfur-fumigated ginseng altered the global quality of SJZD, which promoted that extra attention must be paid during the application of herbal formulas that containing sulfur-fumigated herbs.