The diversity of Ferula species and environmental factors on metabolite composition using untargeted metabolomics

Abstract

The genus Ferula is widely distributed in Central Asia, and different species of Ferula exhibit significant differences in medicinal efficacy and economic value This study aimed to determine the metabolic composition of different Ferula species using untargeted metabolomics with UHPLC-MS/MS. The study identified 764 metabolites and 56 metabolites as characteristic metabolites of different Ferula species. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of using untargeted metabolomics to screen Ferula quality markers. Furthermore, based on the specific metabolites found, Mantel tests, redundancy analysis, and stepwise regression equation models were jointly affected by soil and terrain factors. These findings provide valuable insights into the rational utilisation and management of Ferula plant resources and artificial cultivation. Overall, this study provides an important contribution to understanding the metabolic differences in Ferula species from different environmental sources and can inform the development of sustainable strategies for the utilisation and management of Ferula plant resources.