Li Zhenkai, Feng Lu, Wang Hong, Zhang Lin, Li Haishan, Li Yanqing, Niu Pilian, Tian Gege, Yang Yan, Mei Xiangui, Peng Li
School of Life Sciences, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China.
Plants (Basel). 2023 Jun 12;12(12):2286. doi: 10.3390/plants12122286.
The original plant of Chinese medicine Stellariae Radix (Yin Chai Hu) is L. var. Bge (abbreviated as SDL). SDL is a perennial herbaceous plant and a characteristic crop in Ningxia. Growth years are vital factors that affect the quality of perennial medicinal materials. This study aims to investigate the impact of growth years on SDL and screen for the optimal harvest age by comparing the medicinal material characteristics of SDL with different growth years. Additionally, metabolomics analysis using UHPLC-Q-TOF MS was employed to investigate the impact of growth years on the accumulation of metabolites in SDL. The results show that the characteristics of medicinal materials and the drying rate of SDL gradually increase with the increase in growth years. The fastest development period of SDL occurred during the first 3 years, after which the development slowed down. Medicinal materials characteristics of 3-year-old SDL exhibited mature qualities with a high drying rate, methanol extract content, and the highest content of total sterols and total flavonoids. A total of 1586 metabolites were identified, which were classified into 13 major classes with more than 50 sub-classes. Multivariate statistical analysis indicated significant differences in the diversity of metabolites of SDL in different growth years, with greater differences observed in metabolites as the growth years increased. Moreover, different highly expressed metabolites in SDL at different growth years were observed: 1-2 years old was beneficial to the accumulation of more lipids, while 3-5 years old was conducive to accumulating more alkaloids, benzenoids, etc. Furthermore, 12 metabolites accumulating with growth years and 20 metabolites decreasing with growth years were screened, and 17 significantly different metabolites were noted in 3-year-old SDL. In conclusion, growth years not only influenced medicinal material characteristics, drying rate, content of methanol extract, and total sterol and flavonoid contents, but also had a considerable effect on SDL metabolites and metabolic pathways. SDL planted for 3 years presented the optimum harvest time. The screened significantly different metabolites with biological activity, such as rutin, cucurbitacin e, isorhamnetin-3-o-glucoside, etc., can be utilized as potential quality markers of SDL. This research provides references for studying the growth and development of SDL medicinal materials, the accumulation of metabolites, and the selection of optimal harvest time.
中药银柴胡的原植物是银柴胡（Stellaria dichotoma L. var. lanceolata Bge，简称SDL）。SDL是一种多年生草本植物，也是宁夏的特色作物。生长年限是影响多年生药材质量的关键因素。本研究旨在探讨生长年限对SDL的影响，并通过比较不同生长年限SDL的药材特性来筛选最佳采收年龄。此外，采用超高效液相色谱-四极杆飞行时间质谱（UHPLC-Q-TOF MS）代谢组学分析方法，研究生长年限对SDL中代谢产物积累的影响。结果表明，SDL的药材特性和干燥速率随生长年限的增加而逐渐提高。SDL的最快发育时期出现在前3年，此后发育速度减缓。3年生SDL的药材特性表现成熟，干燥速率高，甲醇提取物含量高，总甾醇和总黄酮含量最高。共鉴定出1586种代谢产物，分为13大类50多个亚类。多变量统计分析表明，不同生长年限SDL代谢产物的多样性存在显著差异，且随着生长年限的增加，代谢产物的差异更大。此外，观察到SDL在不同生长年限有不同的高表达代谢产物：1-2年有利于积累更多的脂质，而3-5年有利于积累更多的生物碱、苯类等。此外，筛选出12种随生长年限积累的代谢产物和20种随生长年限减少的代谢产物，并发现3年生SDL中有17种显著差异的代谢产物。总之，生长年限不仅影响药材特性、干燥速率、甲醇提取物含量以及总甾醇和黄酮含量，而且对SDL的代谢产物和代谢途径也有相当大的影响。种植3年的SDL呈现出最佳采收时间。筛选出的具有生物活性的显著差异代谢产物，如芦丁、葫芦素E、异鼠李素-3-O-葡萄糖苷等，可作为SDL潜在的质量标志物。本研究为研究SDL药材的生长发育、代谢产物积累及最佳采收时间的选择提供了参考。
