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• Amino acids, nucleosides, nucleobases, sugars and protein in goji were analyzed. • Nutritional component profiles of goji from different regions were compared. • The regions located in Hetao plain produced goji with similar chemical profile. • Fructose and glucose are the main markers to distinguish goji from different areas. Goji berries are used as functional food for hundreds of years in Asia, Europe, North America and Austria, and are popular for nutritive properties in global. Commercial Goji berries are mainly produced in Ningxia, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia of China. However, the Goji berries produced in these regions exhibited different appearance and taste. Thus, characterization of the nutritional components in Goji berries produced in these regions could provide the guidance for application of them. In this study, 94 samples were collected, and a total of 20 amino acids, 17 nucleosides and nucleobases, 4 sugars and protein were determined by UHPLC-MS/MS, HPLC-ELSD or UV, and the variation was illustrated through heatmap clustering analysis, PCA and PLS-DA. The results showed that Goji berries from Xinjiang were rich in protein than the samples from other regions; those from Gansu and Ningxia were rich in amino acids, nucleosides and nucleobases; and those from Jiuquan of Gansu and Qinghai were rich in sugars. Heatmap clustering and PCA analysis results showed that all the samples exhibited a significant spatial aggregation, and the producing regions located along the Yellow River (belonging to the Hetao plain) produced Goji berries with the similar chemical profile. Additionally, PLS-DA analysis results showed that fructose and glucose were the predominant markers to distinguish Goji berries from different producing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (A. sinensis) is a Chinese herb grown in different geographical locations. It contains numerous active components with therapeutic value. Rhizosphere microbiomes affect various aspects of plant performance, such as nutrient acquisition, growth and development and plant diseases resistance. So far, few studies have investigated how the microbiome effects level of active components of A. sinensis. This study investigated whether changes in rhizosphere microbial communities and metabolites of A. sinensis vary with the soil microenvironment. Soils from the two main A. sinensis-producing areas, Gansu and Yunnan Province, were used to conduct pot experiments. The soil samples were divided into two parts, one part was sterilized and the other was unsterilized planting with the seedling variety of Gansu danggui 90–01. All seedlings were allowed to grow for 180 days. At the end of the experiment, radix A. sinensis were collected and used to characterize growth targets and chemical compositions. Rhizosphere soils were subjected to microbial analyses. Results: Changes in metabolic profiles and rhizosphere microbial communities of A. sinensis grown under different soil microenvironments were similar. The GN (Gansu non-sterilized), YN (Yunnan non-sterilized), GS (Gansu sterilized), and YS (Yunnan sterilized) groups were significantly separated. Notably, antagonistic bacteria such as Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Lysobacter, Pseudoxanthomonas, etc. were significantly (p < 0.05) enriched in Gansu soil compared with Yunnan soil. Moreover, senkyunolide I and ligustilide dimers which were enriched in GS group were strongly positively correlated with Pseudomonas parafulva; organic acids (including chlorogenic acid, dicaffeoylquinic acid and 5-feruloylquinic acid) and their ester coniferyl ferulate which were enriched in YS Group were positively associated with Gemmatimonadetes bacterium WY71 and Mucilaginibater sp., respectively. Conclusions: The soil microenvironment influences growth and level/type of active components in A. sinensis. Further studies should explore the functional features of quality-related bacteria, identify the key response genes and clarify the interactions between genes and soil environments. This will reveal the mechanisms that determine the quality formation of genuine A. sinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]