Department of Pharmacognosy, Poona College of Pharmacy, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune, India.
Planta Med. 2011 Nov;77(17):1958-64. doi: 10.1055/s-0031-1279997. Epub 2011 Jul 4.
Withania somnifera (L.) Dun. (Solanaceae), known as Indian ginseng, is one of the most popular medicinal plants in India. Considering the importance and common use of this plant, it is necessary to investigate its holistic metabolite profile. However, with existing analytical methods which are based on TLC and HPLC‑UV (or MS), it is difficult to obtain information of the whole range of compounds appropriately. In this study, the metabolic characterization of Withania somnifera leaves, stems, and roots collected in six different regions in India was performed using ¹H NMR spectroscopy followed by principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA). Of the parts of Withania somnifera analyzed in this study, the leaf was found to have the widest range of metabolites, including amino acids, flavonoids, lipids, organic acids, phenylpropanoids, and sugars, as well as the main secondary metabolites of the plant, withanolides. The ¹H NMR spectra revealed the presence of two groups of withanolides: 4-OH and 5,6-epoxy withanolides (withaferin A-like steroids) and 5- OH and 6,7-epoxy withanolides (withanolides Alike steroids). The ratio of these two withanolides was found to be a key discriminating feature of Withania somnifera leaf samples from different origins.
睡茄（Withania somnifera（L.）Dun.），又称印度人参，是印度最受欢迎的药用植物之一。鉴于这种植物的重要性和普遍用途，有必要调查其整体代谢物特征。然而，现有的基于 TLC 和 HPLC-UV（或 MS）的分析方法很难适当地获取整个化合物范围的信息。在这项研究中，使用 ¹H NMR 光谱结合主成分分析（PCA）和层次聚类分析（HCA）对印度六个不同地区采集的睡茄叶、茎和根的代谢特征进行了研究。在所分析的睡茄部分中，发现叶片具有最广泛的代谢物范围，包括氨基酸、类黄酮、脂质、有机酸、苯丙素和糖，以及植物的主要次生代谢物，甾体皂甙。¹H NMR 光谱显示存在两组甾体皂甙：4-OH 和 5,6-环氧甾体皂甙（类似醉茄内酯的甾体）和 5-OH 和 6,7-环氧甾体皂甙（类似醉茄内酯的甾体）。这两种甾体皂甙的比例被发现是区分不同来源睡茄叶片样品的关键特征。
