Structural Characterization and Discrimination of Morinda officinalis and Processing Morinda officinalis Based on Metabolite Profiling Analysis.

Liping Kang,Qingxiu Hao,Shuai Yang,Yi Yu,Jian Yang,Yali He,Gai Li,Lanping Guo,Yan Zhang,Li Zhou

doi:10.3389/fchem.2021.803550

Abstract

Morindae officinalis Radix (MOR) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and functional food material for invigorating kidneys and tonifying yang. Processed Morindae officinalis Radix (PMOR) is obtained by steaming MOR. Traditionally, the clinical effects are discrepant between processing and nonprocessing herbal medicines. MOR and PMOR are commonly used in both clinical practice and dietary supplements, and the effect of invigorating kidneys and tonifying yang of PMOR is stronger than MOR. To clarify the overall chemical composition and the difference of MOR and PMOR, a method was developed with an ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS). Among the 110 identified components shared by MOR and PMOR, 55 compounds showed significant differences in contents. Among them, the contents of 29 components, including fructooligosaccharides, monotropein, deacetylasperulosidic acid, geniposide, and anthraquinone glycosides, were higher in MOR than in PMOR; the contents of 26 components, including difructose anhydride sucrose, and iridoid glycoside derivatives, were higher in PMOR than in MOR. Difructose anhydrides and iridoid glycoside derivatives were first discovered in PMOR. These results provided a scientific basis for research on the therapeutic material basis of MOR. It would provide a method for the comparison of processing and nonprocessing in Chinese medicines.

Highlights

Morindae officinalis Radix (MOR), the dried root of Morinda officinalis How, is a kind of Chinese herbal medicine widely cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian provinces of China
The results revealed that the contents of GFn (n 2–21) were higher in MOR than in Processed Morindae officinalis Radix (PMOR), whereas the contents of difructose anhydrides (DFAs) and sucrose were higher in PMOR than in MOR
DFAs have a variety of physiological functions, such as enhancing immunity and diuresis and promoting calcium absorption

Summary

Introduction

Morindae officinalis Radix (MOR), the dried root of Morinda officinalis How, is a kind of Chinese herbal medicine widely cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian provinces of China. Steaming is one of the most common processing methods (Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, 2020; Cheng et al, 2019). Processed Morindae officinalis Radix (PMOR) is obtained by steaming MOR. It has been thought that the effect of invigorating kidneys by PMOR is stronger than MOR (Cui et al, 2013), but the change in chemical composition of MOR before and after steaming is not clear. A report showed that MOR contains a large amount of fructooligosaccharide (GFn, n & 12) (Hao et al, 2019). No systematic research report is available in the overall chemical composition and difference between MOR and PMOR. Because of its high resolution and accurate ion mass value, UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS, as a powerful qualitative and quantitative analysis method, has been increasingly used in the analysis of the chemical composition of complex systems, such as botanical medicines (Xu et al, 2018)

Methods

Results

Conclusion