Deng Kai, Long Huali, He Qingqing, Hou Jinjun, Zhang Zijia, Zhou Jing, Zhou Yang, Shen Minmin, Yan Qiang, Wu Wanying
Shanghai Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Engineering Research Center of TCM Standardization Technology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Huzhou Central Hospital, The Fifth School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Huzhou, China.
Phytochem Anal. 2025 Apr;36(3):556-567. doi: 10.1002/pca.3450. Epub 2024 Sep 11.
Amomum fruit, also known as Sharen, serves as both a functional food and a traditional Chinese medicine with significant pharmacological activities. However, there are three botanical origins of Amomum fruit: Amomum villosum Lour. (AVL), Amomum villosum Lour. var. xanthioides T. L. (AVX), and Amomum longiligulare T. L. Wu (ALW).
Conducting a comprehensive chemical composition analysis of Amomum fruit from three botanical origins aims to identify potential differences in metabolic characteristics.
To annotate the metabolic characteristic ions of multi-origin Amomum fruit, we employed metabolomic techniques, including ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with linear ion trap-Orbitrap-tandem mass spectrometry (MS) and gas chromatography-MS, in conjunction with feature-based molecular networking technology. Additionally, chemometrics was utilized to examine the correlations between the various botanical origins.
A total of 201 non-volatile and 151 volatile metabolites were annotated, and most of the proanthocyanidins and flavonoids were identified by feature-based molecular networking. Additionally, 61 non-volatile and 45 volatile feature ions were screened out for classification. Principal component analysis, orthogonal projection to latent structures discrimination analysis, and heat map analysis were employed to clearly distinguish the metabolite profiles of Amomum fruit from different origins. Hierarchical clustering analysis indicated that proanthocyanidins C1 and C2, as well as proanthocyanins oligomers, show significant differential expression between AVX and AVL, which could be the new quality markers for the classification.
Classification of the botanical origin of Amomum fruit based on LC-MS characteristic ions proved to be more advantageous. This study introduces new strategies and technical support for the quality control of Amomum fruit and facilitates the identification of unknown compounds for future research.
砂仁，又称缩砂，既是一种功能性食品，也是一种具有重要药理活性的传统中药。然而，砂仁有三个植物来源：阳春砂（AVL）、绿壳砂（AVX）和长果砂仁（ALW）。
对三种植物来源的砂仁进行全面的化学成分分析，旨在确定其代谢特征的潜在差异。
为了注释多来源砂仁的代谢特征离子，我们采用了代谢组学技术，包括超高效液相色谱（LC）与线性离子阱-轨道阱串联质谱（MS）联用以及气相色谱-质谱联用，并结合基于特征的分子网络技术。此外，利用化学计量学研究不同植物来源之间的相关性。
共注释了201种非挥发性代谢物和151种挥发性代谢物，大部分原花青素和黄酮类化合物通过基于特征的分子网络得以鉴定。此外，筛选出61种非挥发性特征离子和45种挥发性特征离子用于分类。采用主成分分析、正交投影到潜在结构判别分析和热图分析，清晰地区分了不同来源砂仁的代谢物谱。层次聚类分析表明，原花青素C1和C2以及原花青素低聚物在AVX和AVL之间表现出显著的差异表达，这可能是分类的新质量标志物。
基于LC-MS特征离子对砂仁植物来源进行分类被证明更具优势。本研究为砂仁的质量控制引入了新的策略和技术支持，并有助于未来研究中未知化合物的鉴定。
