Insight into Seasonal Change of Phytochemicals, Antioxidant, and Anti-Aging Activities of Root Bark of Paeonia suffruticosa (Cortex Moutan) Combined with Multivariate Statistical Analysis.

Shicong Yang,Xiaoyan Liu,Menghua Liu,Jingyu He

doi:10.3390/molecules26206102

Abstract

Chemical compositions, antioxidants, and anti-aging activities of Cortex Moutan (CM), from different collection periods and different producing areas, were measured and compared in order to obtain excellent CM extracts. The bioactivities of CM extracts were examined by an in vitro antioxidant method and a UVB irradiated human dermal fibroblast (HDF) model. Phytochemical properties were obtained from ultra-fast liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UFLC-Q-TOF-MS) prior to the multivariate statistical analysis. As for the results, the extracts of Heze CM (HZCM) and Luoyang CM (LYCM) collected in June had better in vitro antioxidant activities, significantly increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and reduced the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), compared to other CM extracts. HZCM and LYCM extracts could upregulate the relative expression of SOD and GSH-Px mRNA. The extract of HZCM collected in June could significantly repress the production of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) and improve the production of procollagen type I (PCOL)-I in UVB irradiated HDF. In total, 50 compounds, including 17 monoterpenoids, 19 flavonoids, 13 phenols, and 1 amino acid were identified or tentatively identified in the CM extracts. Gallic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, oxypaeoniflorin, paeoniflorin, 1,2,3,4,6-O-pentagalloyl glucose, and paeonol were predominant compounds in the CM extracts. Taken together, CM collected from April to September had better antioxidant and anti-aging effects for external usage.

Highlights

Paeonia suffruticosa, belonging to Paeoniaceae, is mainly distributed in China, Japan, America, and Europe [1,2]
Total phenolic content (TPC) of Heze CM (HZCM)-2 was the highest, followed by that of Luoyang CM (LYCM)-6, both of which were collected in June
It was found that Cortex Moutan (CM) had different antioxidant and anti-aging properties at different collection periods and different producing areas

Summary

Introduction

Paeonia suffruticosa, belonging to Paeoniaceae, is mainly distributed in China, Japan, America, and Europe [1,2]. It is an ornamental, edible and medicinal plant in China [3]. For external usage of CM, there is no principle guided for which the growth period is suitable for harvesting and no report on the quality standard of CM for external antioxidant and aging effects. The study of the relationship between phytochemicals and antioxidants or anti-aging activity during the growth period is less documented, which limits the development of products originating from CM

Methods

Results

Conclusion