Abstract
A nuclear magnetic resonance- (NMR-) based metabolomics method was used to identify differential metabolites of methanol extracts obtained from six parts of Peganum harmala L. (P. harmala), namely, the root, stem, leaf, flower, testa, and seed. Two multivariate statistical analysis methods, principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), were combined to clearly distinguish among the P. harmala samples from the six different parts. Eleven differential components were screened by the PLS-DA loading plot, and the relative contents were calculated by univariate analysis of variance. Chemometric results showed significant differences in the metabolites of the different parts of P. harmala. The seeds contained large amounts of harmaline, harmine, and vasicine compared to other organs. The acetic acid, proline, lysine, and sucrose contents of the roots were significantly higher than those of the other parts. In the testa, the vasicine, asparagine, choline, and 4-hydroxyisoleucine contents were clearly dominant. The obtained data revealed the distribution characteristics of the metabolomes of the different P. harmala parts and provided fundamental knowledge for the rational development of its medicinal parts.
Highlights
P. harmala is the only salt-tolerant perennial herb in the Peganum genus of the family Zygophyllaceae [1]
P. harmala extract is a rich source of bioactive substances [6], including large amounts of primary and secondary metabolites [7]. e whole plant and its seeds contain several kinds of alkaloids [8]. e alkaloid content of the seeds accounts for 3.92–7% of the dry weight [9]. e main alkaloid components are derivatives of quinazoline and β-carboline [10], which have exhibited anticancer and antibacterial activities in pharmacological studies [4, 10]
Vasicine, vasicinone, harmaline, and harmine were identified in the methanol extracts of P. harmala
Summary
P. harmala is the only salt-tolerant perennial herb in the Peganum genus of the family Zygophyllaceae [1]. E main alkaloid components are derivatives of quinazoline and β-carboline [10], which have exhibited anticancer and antibacterial activities in pharmacological studies [4, 10]. Because these metabolites located in different parts of the plant can vary greatly in type and quantity, the resulting pharmacological activities and antibacterial effects are significantly different [11]. Few alkaloids (β-carbolines and quinazoline derivatives) isolated from the different organs in P. harmala have been investigated [4, 13, 14], and no comprehensive studies of the metabolome of each of its parts have been performed
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