Comparative Investigation of the Differences in Chemical Compounds between Raw and Processed Mume Fructus Using Plant Metabolomics Combined with Chemometrics Methods

Abstract

Mume Fructus is a well-known herbal medicine and food with a long history of processing and application. Different processing methods impact the intrinsic quality of Mume Fructus. Thus, it is of great significance to investigate the changes in chemical components during processing (i.e., raw compared to the pulp and charcoal forms). In this study, plant metabolomics methods based on mass spectrometry detection were established to analyze the chemical ingredients of Mume Fructus comprehensively. Chemometric strategies were combined to analyze the profile differences of Mume Fructus after different processing methods. The established strategy identified 98 volatile and 89 non-volatile compounds of Mume Fructus by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS), respectively. Moreover, the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) indicated that raw Mume Fructus and the Mume Fructus pulp and charcoal were distributed in three regions. Subsequently, 19 volatile and 16 non-volatile components were selected as potential chemical component markers with variable importance in the projection using (VIP) >1 as the criterion, and the accuracy was verified by a Back Propagation Neural Network (BP-NN). To further understand the difference in the content of Mume Fructus before and after processing, 16 non-volatile chemical component markers were quantitatively determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The results revealed that, compared with raw Mume Fructus, the total content of 16 components in the pulp of Mume Fructus increased while it decreased in the charcoal. Therefore, this study used GC-MS, UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS and UHPLC-MS/MS modern technology to analyze the differences in chemical components before and after the processing of Mume Fructus and provided a material basis for further research on the quality evaluation and efficacy of Mume Fructus.

Effects of Different Varieties on Physicochemical Properties, Browning Characteristics, and Quality Attributes of Mume fructus (Wumei)

“…The TF content in the four different samples of MF was lower than that in their corresponding PM. This may be due to the thermal degradation of flavonoids in PM caused by high-temperature conditions during processing, resulting in a decrease in TF content in MF [52]. Flavonoids have high medicinal value due to their broad-spectrum pharmacological activity and low toxicity.…”

Quality Evaluation and Browning Control in the Multi-Stage Processing of Mume Fructus (Wumei)

“…MF contains rich polyphenols and flavonoids, which offer various health benefits [5]. With the advancement of technology and medicine, people are increasingly aware of and personally experiencing the numerous health benefits associated with polyphenols and flavonoids.…”

“…PM also contains abundant flavonoids, polyphenols, and other bioactive substances, giving it strong antioxidant capabilities [3,4]. As a unique fresh fruit and easily accessible food ingredient, PM has diverse applications, including the production of plum juice, plum wine, preserved plums, and medicinal MF [5]. MF is commonly used as a traditional Chinese medicine with a long history, marked by its high medicinal and nutritional value.…”

Phytochemistry and Antioxidant Activities of the Rhizome and Radix of Millettia speciosa Based on UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS

“…Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with the quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) has been widely used in the separation and structural analysis of complex systems, such as traditional Chinese medicines, due to its rapid separation, high efficiency, high sensitivity, high resolution, and molecular weight accuracy [ 12 ]. It can be widely used for the chemical identification of different base sources and different medicinal parts of herbal medicines [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”