Abstract
Ophiopogonis Radix, also known as Mai-dong in Chinese, was a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and functional health food. Two products of Ophiopogonis Radix are largely produced in the Sichuan and Zhejiang province, which are called “Chuan maidong (CMD)” and “Zhe maidong (ZMD)” respectively. To distinguish and evaluate the quality of CMD and ZMD, an analytical method based on ultra-fast performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometry (UFLC-QTRAP-MS/MS) was established for simultaneous determination of 32 constituents including 4 steroidal saponins, 3 homisoflavonoids, 15 amino acids, and 10 nucleosides in 27 Mai-dong samples from Sichuan and Zhejiang. Furthermore, principal components analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), t-test, and grey relational analysis (GRA) were applied to discriminate and evaluate the samples from Sichuan and Zhejiang based on the contents of 32 constituents. The results demonstrated that the bioactive constituents in CMD and ZMD were significantly different, and CMD performed better in the quality assessment than ZMD. This study not only provides a basic information for differentiating CMD and ZMD, but offers a new insight into comprehensive evaluation and quality control of Ophiopogonis Radix from two different producing areas.
Highlights
Ophiopogonis Radix, the root of Ophiopogon japonicas Ker-Gawl. (Liliaceae), was applied as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) documented in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia [1]
The optimal extraction method of Ultra-fast Performance Liquid Chromatography (UFLC)-QTRAP-Mass Spectrometry (MS)/MS was 1.0 g sample powders were extracted by 70% methanol (v/v, 30 mL) with ultrasonic machine for 60 min
The principal components analysis (PCA) result showed that the samples of Chuan maidong (CMD) and Zhe maidong (ZMD) were obviously divided into two clusters simultaneously determinate multiple bioactive constituents including 4 steroidal saponins, 3 (Figures 3 and 4a)
Summary
Ophiopogonis Radix, the root of Ophiopogon japonicas Ker-Gawl. (Liliaceae), was applied as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) documented in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia [1]. (Liliaceae), was applied as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) documented in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia [1]. It has been used to nourish the yin, promote body fluid production, moisten the lung, and clear away heartburn (according to the traditional Chinese medicine theory) [2]. Modern phytochemical research has revealed that Ophiopogonis Radix contains various components including steroidal saponins, homoisoflavonoids, amino acids, nucleosides, and polysaccharides [2,3,4,5]. Pharmacological studies have demonstrated that steroidal saponins and homoisoflavonoids possess anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, immunomodulation, cardiovascular protection, and anticancer and antitussive effects [6,7,8,9,10]. Studies suggested that amino acids and nucleosides have wide physiological activities, such as enhancing immunity, regulating the central nervous system, and improving cell metabolism [11,12].
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