Exploration of biophoton characteristics of fresh fort leaves under salt and drought stresses and the feasibility analysis for the quality prediction of .

INTRODUCTION

, derived from the dried leaves of Fort, has been used for centuries as a traditional Chinese herb with antibacterial and antiviral properties. However, both the cultivation conditions and the growth status of Fort have been negatively affected by climatic and environmental degradation, which has made it challenging to accurately assess the quality of . The current quality control system for lacks precision and comprehensive identification indices, and importantly, the cultivation process has not been integrated into this system.

METHODS

In this study, we proposed a novel method to distinguish between different stress subtypes in Fort based on biophoton emission and attempted to explore the potential relationship between the biophoton characteristics of fresh Fort leaves and the quality of . The delayed luminescence (DL) and spontaneous photon emission (SPE) characteristics of fresh Fort leaves under different stress conditions were detected using a biophoton detection system. An attempt was made to differentiate samples subjected to various stress treatments using biophoton characteristic parameters. Additionally, the content of active ingredients was determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography, and the inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was evaluated to identify the quality of . Several physiological indicators of fresh Fort leaves, including the photosynthetic pigment content, relative electrical conductivity, and reactive oxygen species production rate were also determined.

RESULT

The differences in physiological indices, active ingredient content, and inhibitory activity indicated that the stress conditions significantly inhibited the growth status of Fort leaves and the herbal quality. Meanwhile, biophoton characteristic parameters were obtained that could accurately and efficiently distinguish fresh Fort leaves between different stress subtypes: initial intensity of DL and counts per second of SPE. Both characteristic parameters were highly correlated with the physiological indicators and quality of .

DISCUSSION

This study has preliminarily demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing biophoton detection technology for the quality evaluation of during cultivation for the first time and provided an improved method for distinguishing samples of various qualities.