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Polygonatum rhizome is a traditional Chinese medicine of the same origin as food and medicine, and it has high economic value and social benefits. To screen the excellent germplasm resources of Polygonatum kingianum ( P. kingianum ) and clarify the nutritional and medicinal value of the rhizome of P. kingianum , we used widely targeted metabolomics to analyze the traits and metabolomics of rhizomes of different germplasms of P. kingianum from different growth years. The results showed that different germplasms and growth years of P. kingianum were rich in different nutritional and medicinal components. Among them, Polygonatum kingianum 'Linyun 1' rhizome (PWR) was richer in amino acids and derivatives, alkaloids, and phenolic acids, while Polygonatum kingianum rhizome (PRR) was richer in flavonoids, organic acids, and phenolic acids. Most of the differential compounds were mainly enriched in PRR when the growth year was one, and PWR had a greater variety and higher content of differential compounds in the third year, which also reflected the advantages of Polygonatum kingianum 'Linyun 1' ( P. kingianum 'Linyun 1') as an excellent new variety of P. kingianum . The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) metabolic pathway analysis showed that in P. kingianum with the same age and different germplasms, the significantly enriched metabolic pathway was more active in biosynthesis in PWR. In the same germplasm of P. kingianum from different years, the metabolites involved in PRR were mainly the highest in one-year-old P. kingianum (PR-1) or three-year-old P. kingianum (PR-3), and the metabolites involved in PWR were mainly the highest in three-year-old P. kingianum 'Linyun 1' (PW-3). The above results showed that the three-year-old PWR had more advantages based on chemical substances. Therefore, this study provided a new theoretical reference for the development of P. kingianum products and the breeding of new varieties.

Panax japonicus C. A. Meyer is renowned for its significant therapeutic effects and is commonly used worldwide. Its active ingredients, triterpenoid saponins, show variation in content among different tissues. The tissue-specific distribution of saponins is potentially related to the expression of vital genes in the biosynthesis pathway. In this study, the contents of five saponins (ginsenoside Ro, chikusetsusaponin IV, chikusetsusaponin IVa, ginsenoside Rg1, and ginsenoside Rb1) in three different tissues were determined by HPLC. Transcriptome sequencing analysis identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis, highlighting significant correlations between saponin contents and the expression levels of 10 cytochrome p450 monooxygenase (CYP) and 3 UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes. Cloning, sequencing, and prokaryotic expression of UGT genes confirmed the molecular weights of UGT proteins. Gene sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis provided preliminary insights into UGT gene functions. Meanwhile, the function of one UGT gene was characterized in the yeast. These findings advance our understanding of the triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis in P. japonicus and support future research in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and synthetic biology.

Pinelliae Rhizoma (PR), a highly esteemed traditional Chinese medicinal herb, is widely applied in clinical settings due to its diverse pharmacological effects, including antitussive, expectorant, antiemetic, sedative-hypnotic, and antitumor activities. Pinellia ternata exhibits morphological variation in its leaves, with types resembling peach, bamboo, and willow leaves. However, the chemical composition differences among the corresponding rhizomes of these leaf phenotypes remain unelucidated. This pioneering research employed Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MALDI-MSI) to conduct the in situ identification and spatial profiling of 35 PR metabolites in PR, comprising 12 alkaloids, 4 organic acids, 12 amino acids, 5 flavonoids, 1 sterol, and 1 anthraquinone. Our findings revealed distinct spatial distribution patterns of secondary metabolites within the rhizome tissues of varying leaf types. Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) effectively differentiated between rhizomes associated with different leaf morphologies. Furthermore, this study identified five potential differential biomarkers-methylophiopogonanone B, inosine, cytidine, adenine, and leucine/isoleucine-that elucidate the biochemical distinctions among leaf types. The precise tissue-specific localization of these secondary metabolites offers compelling insights into the specialized accumulation of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants, thereby enhancing our comprehension of PR's therapeutic potential.

The present study investigates the chemical composition variances among Pinelliae Rhizoma, a widely used Chinese herbal medicine, and its common adulterants including Typhonium flagelliforme , Arisaema erubescens , and Pinellia pedatisecta . Utilizing the non-targeted metabolomics technique of employing UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS, this research aims to comprehensively delineate the metabolic profiles of Pinelliae Rhizoma and its adulterants. Multivariate statistical methods including PCA and OPLS-DA are employed for the identification of differential metabolites. Volcano plot analysis is utilized to discern upregulated and downregulated compounds. KEGG pathway analysis is conducted to elucidate the differences in metabolic pathways associated with these compounds, and significant pathway enrichment analysis is performed. A total of 769 compounds are identified through metabolomics analysis, with alkaloids being predominant, followed by lipids and lipid molecules. Significant differential metabolites were screened out based on VIP > 1 and p -value < 0.05 criteria, followed by KEGG enrichment analysis of these differential metabolites. Differential metabolites between Pinelliae Rhizoma and Typhonium flagelliforme , as well as between Pinelliae Rhizoma and Pinellia pedatisecta , are significantly enriched in the biosynthesis of amino acids and protein digestion and absorption pathways. Differential metabolites between Pinelliae Rhizoma and Arisaema erubescens are mainly enriched in tyrosine metabolism and phenylalanine metabolism pathways. These findings aim to provide valuable data support and theoretical references for further research on the pharmacological substances, resource development and utilization, and quality control of Pinelliae Rhizoma.

One new dibenzyltyrolactone lignan dysoslignan A ( 1 ), three new arylnaphthalide lignans dysoslignan B-C ( 2 - 4 ), along with fourteen known metabolites ( 5 - 18 ), were isolated from the roots and rhizomes of Dysosma versipellis . Their structures and stereochemistry were determined from analysis of NMR spectroscopic and circular dichroism (CD) data. Compound 2 represents the first report of naturally occurring arylnaphthalide lignan triglycoside. The cytotoxic activities of all isolated compounds were evaluated against A-549 and SMMC-7721 cell lines. Compounds 7 - 10 and 14 - 16 were more toxic than cisplatin in two tumor cell lines. This investigation clarifies the potential effective substance basis of D. versipellis in tumor treatment.

Polygonati Rhizoma is the dried rhizome of Polygonatum kingianum coll.et hemsl., Polygonatum sibiricum Red. or Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua, and has a long history of medication. Raw Polygonati Rhizoma (RPR) numbs the tongue and stings the throat, while prepared Polygonati Rhizoma (PPR) can remove the numbness of the tongue, and at the same time enhance its functions of invigorating the spleen, moistening the lungs and tonifying the kidneys. There are many active ingredients in Polygonati Rhizoma (PR), among which polysaccharide is one of the most important active ingredients. Therefore, we studied the effect of Polygonati Rhizoma polysaccharide (PRP) on the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans ( C. elegans ) and found that polysaccharide in PPR (PPRP) was more effective than Polysaccharide in RPR (RPRP) in prolonging the lifespan of C. elegans , reducing the accumulation of lipofuscin, and increasing the frequency of pharyngeal pumping and movement. The further mechanism study found that PRP can improve the anti-oxidative stress ability of C. elegans , reduce the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in C. elegans , and improve the activity of antioxidant enzymes. The results of quantitative real-time PCR(q-PCR) experiments suggested that PRP may prolong the lifespan of C. elegans by down-regulating d af-2 and activating daf-16 and sod-3 , and the transgenic nematode experiments were consistent with its results, so it was hypothesized that the mechanism of age delaying effect of PRP was related to daf-2 , daf-16 and sod-3 of the insulin signaling pathway. In short, our research results provide a new idea for the application and development of PRP.

Kaempferia parviflora Wall. ex Baker (KP) has been reported to attenuate cartilage destruction in rat model of osteoarthritis. Previously, we demonstrated that KP rhizome extract and its active components effectively suppressed mechanisms associated with RA in SW982 cells. Here, we further evaluated the anti-arthritis potential of KP extract by using multi-level models, including a complete Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis and a cartilage explant culture model, and to investigate the effects of KP extract and its major components on related gene expressions and underlying mechanisms within cells. In arthritis rats, the KP extract reduced arthritis indexes, with no significant changes in biological parameters. In the cartilage explant model, the KP extract exerted chondroprotective potential by suppressing sulfated glycosaminoglycans release while preserving high accumulation of proteoglycans. In human chondrocyte cell line, a mixture of the major components equal to their amounts in KP extract showed strong suppression the expression of genes-associated inflammatory joint disease similar to that of the extract. Additionally, KP extract significantly suppressed NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. The suppressing expression of necroptosis genes and promoted anti-apoptosis were also found. Collectively, these results provided supportive evidence of the anti-arthritis properties of KP extract, which are associated with its three major components.

Natural products are important sources for drug discovery, especially anti-tumor drugs. β-Elemene, the prominent active ingredient extract from the rhizome of Curcuma wenyujin , is a representative natural product with broad anti-tumor activities. The main molecular mechanism of β-elemene is to inhibit tumor growth and proliferation, induce apoptosis, inhibit tumor cell invasion and metastasis, enhance the sensitivity of chemoradiotherapy, regulate the immune system, and reverse multidrug resistance (MDR). Elemene oral emulsion and elemene injection were approved by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) for the treatment of various cancers and bone metastasis in 1994. However, the lipophilicity and low bioavailability limit its application. To discover better β-elemene-derived anti-tumor drugs with satisfying drug-like properties, researchers have modified its structure under the premise of not damaging the basic scaffold structure. In this review, we comprehensively discuss and summarize the potential anti-tumor mechanisms and the progress of structural modifications of β-elemene.

Thermally processed rhizomes of Atractylodes macrocephala (RAM) have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for treating various disorders, and have been an integral part of various traditional drugs and healthcare products. In TCM, herbal medicines are, in most cases, uniquely processed. Although it is thought that processing can alter the properties of herbal medicines so as to achieve desired functions, increase potency, and/or reduce side effects, the underlying chemical changes remain unclear for most thermally processed Chinese herbal medicines. In an attempt to shed some light on the scientific rationale behind the processes involved in traditional medicine, the RAM processed by stir-frying with wheat bran was investigated for the change of chemical composition. As a result, for the first time, five new chemical entities, along with ten known compounds, were isolated. Their chemical structures were determined by spectroscopic and spectrometric analyses. The possible synthetic pathway for the generation of such thermally-induced chemical entities was also proposed. Furthermore, biological activity evaluation showed that none of the compounds possessed cytotoxic effects against the tested mammalian cancer and noncancer cell lines. In addition, all compounds were ineffective at inhibiting the growth of the pathogenic microorganisms.

Rhodiola rosea L. (roseroot) is an adaptogen plant belonging to the Crassulaceae family. The broad spectrum of biological activity of R. rosea is attributed to its major phenyletanes and phenylpropanoids: rosavin, salidroside, rosin, cinnamyl alcohol, and tyrosol. In this study, we compared the content of phenyletanes and phenylpropanoids in rhizomes of R. rosea from the Norwegian germplasm collection collected in 2004 and in 2017. In general, the content of these bioactive compounds in 2017 was significantly higher than that observed in 2004. The freeze-drying method increased the concentration of all phenyletanes and phenylpropanoids in rhizomes compared with conventional drying at 70 °C. As far as we know, the content of salidroside (51.0 mg g -1 ) observed in this study is the highest ever detected in Rhodiola spp. Long-term vegetative propagation and high genetic diversity of R. rosea together with the freeze-drying method may have led to the high content of the bioactive compounds observed in the current study.

Panax vietnamensis (PV), a wild Panax species discovered in Vietnam in 1973, has been increasingly overexploited due to its economic value and therapeutic uses. This resulted in the development of PV cultivation to meet the market demand. There is little information on the accumulation of saponins in PV during cultivation, but this information could serve as an indication of the appropriate harvest time. In this study we developed an HPLC-UV/ELSD method to simultaneously determine the content of 10 characteristic saponins in PV from 2-7 years old, including G-Rb1, G-Rd, G-Rg1, G-Re, N-R1, M-R1, M-R2, V-R2, V-R11, and p-RT4. The result indicated that from 2 to 5 years, the content of saponins in PV rhizome and radix increase 3.02 and 4.2 times, respectively, whereas from 5 to 7 years, no significant changes were observed. Hence, our study suggests that after 5 years of growth could be considered as an appropriate time for PV to be harvested. Among the analyzed saponins, G-Rg1, G-Rb1, G-Rd, and especially M-R2 were the major saponins that contributed to the change of PV's saponin content through the years. In addition, the developed and validated HPLC method was proven to be reliable and effective for quality control of PV.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disease accompanied by a series of diseases such as diabetic nephropathy. The drug pair (HS) of Astragalus Radix (HQ) and Dioscoreae Rhizoma (SY) was designed by Dr. Shi Jinmo to improve the treatment of T2DM. However, the exact mechanism involved requires further clarification. In this work, 1 H-NMR-based metabonomics and network pharmacology were adopted. Metabolic profiling indicated that the metabolic perturbation was reduced after HS treatment. The results found 21 biomarkers. According to the network pharmacology, we found that the regulation of T2DM was primarily associated with 18 active compounds in HS. These active compounds mainly had an effect on 135 targets. Subsequently, combining network pharmacology and metabonomics, we found four target proteins, which indicated that HS has potential hypoglycemic effects through regulating monoamine oxidases B (MAOB), acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACACA), carbonic anhydrase 2 (CA2), and catalase (CAT). In conclusion, the result showed that these four targets might be the most relevant targets for the treatment of T2DM with HS. This study clarified the mechanism of HS in the treatment of T2DM and also confirmed the feasibility of combining metabonomics and network pharmacology to study the mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In the future, this approach may be a potentially powerful tool to discovery active components of traditional Chinese medicines and elucidate their mechanisms.

In this study, the nutritional, functional, and chemical measurements of sensory attributes of different parts of wasabi, namely, leaf, petiole, and rhizome, were investigated. Proximate composition analysis showed the presence of high amounts of carbohydrates in the rhizome and amino acid composition analysis confirmed high proportions of glutamic acid and aspartic acid in all three parts. While proximate composition showed low lipid content in wasabi, ω-3 fatty acids accounted for a high proportion (>44%) of the total lipids. Wasabi leaves had high vitamin C and total phenolic contents, and thus demonstrated antioxidant capacity. Allyl isothiocyanate, which gives wasabi its characteristic pungent taste, was identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and an electronic nose. On an electronic tongue, wasabi leaves showed compounds associated with sourness and saltiness while the petiole had high content of compounds associated with sweetness and bitterness. This study provides basic data for the utilization of wasabi parts as food materials based on their nutritional, functional, and chemical measure of sensory attributes.

Chinese yam is an important edible starch plant and widely cultivated in China. Its rhizome and bulbil are starch storage tissues below and above ground, respectively. In this paper, starches were isolated from the rhizome and bulbil of Chinese yam, and their structural and functional properties were compared. Both starches had an oval shape with an eccentric hilum and a C A -type crystalline structure. Their short-range ordered structure and lamellar structure had no significant difference. However, the rhizome starch had a significantly bigger granule size and lower amylose content than the bulbil starch. The swelling power and water solubility were significantly lower in the rhizome starch than in the bulbil starch. The onset and peak gelatinization temperatures were significantly higher in the rhizome starch than in the bulbil starch. The rhizome starch had a significantly higher breakdown viscosity and a lower setback viscosity than the bulbil starch. The thermal stability was lower in the rhizome starch than in the bulbil starch. The rhizome starch had a significantly lower resistance to hydrolysis and in vitro digestion than the bulbil starch. The above results provide important information for the utilization of rhizome and bulbil starches of Chinese yam., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the effect of the cultivation year on the quality of different ginseng tissues. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of ginsenosides were conducted using a UPLC-UV-MS method. Eight main ginsenosides in three tissues (leaf, rhizome and main root) and four parts (periderm, phloem, cambium and xylem) of ginseng aged from 1 to 13 years were determined using a UPLC-PDA method. Additionally, the antioxidant capacities of ginseng leaves were analyzed by the DPPH, ABTS and HRSA methods. It was found that the contents of ginsenosides increased with cultivation years, causing a sequential content change of ginsenosides in an organ-specific manner: leaf > rhizome > main root. The ratio between protopanaxatriol (PPT, Rg1, Re and RF) and protopanaxadiol (PPD, Rb1, Rb2, RC and Rd) in the main root remained stable (about 1.0), while it increased in leaf from 1.37 to 3.14 and decreased in the rhizome from 0.99 to 0.72. The amount of ginsenosides accumulated in the periderm was 45.48 mg/g, which was more than twice as high compared with the other three parts. Furthermore, the antioxidant activities of ginseng leaves were measured as Trolox equivalents, showing that antioxidant activity increased along with time of cultivation. The results show that the best harvest time for shizhu ginseng is the fifth year of cultivation, and the root and rhizome could be used together within seven planting years for their similar PPT/PPD level. Besides, the quality of the ginseng products would be enhanced with the periderm. The ginseng leaf is rich in ginsenosides and has potential application for its antioxidant capacity.

The anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of a methanol extract of the rhizome of Cnidium officinale were investigated. Four compounds, namely falcarindiol (1), 6-hydroxy-7-methoxy-dihydroligustilide (2), ligustilidiol (3), and senkyunolide H (4) were isolated from the extract of the rhizome of Cnidium officinale and their structures were elucidated by analysis of their spectroscopic data and by comparison with previously reported data. These compounds showed anti-inflammatory activities, measured as inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) release in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, with IC(50) values of 4.31 ± 5.22, 152.95 ± 4.23, 72.78 ± 5.13, and 173.42 ± 3.22 μM, respectively. They also inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA expression induced by LPS. Among these compounds, falcarindiol (1) was found to have anti-proliferative effect against MCF-7 human breast cancer cells by induction of a G(0)/G(1) cell cycle block of the cells, with an IC(50) value of 35.67 μM. Typical apoptotic effects were observed by phase contrast microscopy and were also exhibited in fluorescence microscopy with Hoechst 33342 staining. In addition, falcarindiol induced apoptosis through strongly increased mRNA expression of Bax and p53, and slightly reduced Bcl-2 mRNA levels in a dose dependent manner. This study suggested that C. officinale extract and its components would be valuable candidates in therapeutic applications for anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents.