National Resource Centre for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-di Herbs, National Resource Centre for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
Phytochem Anal. 2024 Jan;35(1):135-145. doi: 10.1002/pca.3280. Epub 2023 Sep 24.
Agarwood, a fragrant resinous wood mainly formed by Aquilaria spp., is used worldwide as a natural fragrance and traditional medicine. A large amount of Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg leaves are underutilised during the process of the agarwood industry, and the development of A. sinensis leaves as tea has recently attracted more and more attention. However, the small molecule profile of A. sinensis leaves and their bioactivities has been rarely reported.
To conduct a rapid untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis of A. sinensis leaves with a molecular networking (MN) strategy and evaluate its antioxidant and antidiabetic value.
A MN-assisted tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis strategy was used to investigate the small molecule profile of A. sinensis leaves. Additionally, the integration of antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory assays with MN analysis was executed to expeditiously characterise the bioactive compounds for potential prospective application.
Five main chemical groups including phenol C-glycosides, organic acids, 2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones, benzophenone O-glycosides and flavonoids were rapidly revealed from the A. sinensis leaves. Eighty-one compounds were provisionally identified by comparing their MS/MS fragments with canonical pathways. The featured xanthone C-glycosides and benzophenone C-glycosides were recognised as the primary components of A. sinensis leaves. Several dimers and a trimer of mangiferin were reported firstly in A. sinensis leaves. Furthermore, 17 and 14 potential bioactive molecules were rapidly annotated from antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory fraction, respectively.
Our findings will help expand the utilisation of A. sinensis leaves and thus promote the high-quality development of agarwood industry.
沉香木，一种主要由沉香属（Aquilaria spp.）形成的芳香树脂木材，在世界范围内被用作天然香料和传统药物。在沉香木产业的过程中，大量的白木香（Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg）叶子未得到充分利用，而白木香叶作为茶的开发最近越来越受到关注。然而，白木香叶的小分子谱及其生物活性很少有报道。
采用分子网络（MN）策略对沉香木叶片进行快速非靶向液相色谱-质谱（LC-MS）分析，并评价其抗氧化和抗糖尿病价值。
采用 MN 辅助串联质谱（MS/MS）分析策略研究沉香木叶片的小分子谱。此外，将抗氧化和α-葡萄糖苷酶抑制测定与 MN 分析相结合，以快速鉴定潜在应用的生物活性化合物。
从沉香木叶片中快速揭示了包括酚糖苷、有机酸、2-(2-苯乙基)色酮、苯甲酮 O-糖苷和类黄酮在内的 5 个主要化学群。通过将其 MS/MS 片段与经典途径进行比较，共临时鉴定了 81 种化合物。特征性的柚皮苷 C-糖苷和苯甲酮 C-糖苷被认为是沉香木叶片的主要成分。首次在沉香木叶片中报道了几种二聚体和三聚体芒果苷。此外，从抗氧化和α-葡萄糖苷酶抑制部分分别快速注释了 17 种和 14 种潜在生物活性分子。
我们的研究结果将有助于扩大白木香叶的利用，从而促进沉香木产业的高质量发展。
