Study on changes in pigment composition during the blooming period of safflower based on plant metabolomics and semi‐quantitative analysis

Abstract

Red and yellow pigments are the major ingredients of safflower, often used to color food and cosmetics. Carthamin was the main component of red pigment and hydroxysafflor yellow A and anhydrosafflower yellow B were representative components of yellow pigment. Plant metabolomics and semi‐quantitative analysis were used to analyze the changes of pigment composition during the blooming period, especially these characteristic components. Carthamin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, anhydrosafflower yellow B, and other components were screened out as differential metabolites based on plant metabolomics. Then semi‐quantitative analysis was used to quantify these three representative components of pigments. Experimental results showed that the content of pigments has dynamic changes along with flowering, in the early blooming period, yellow pigment accumulated much and red pigment was low in content. In the middle period, the accumulation rate of the yellow pigment slowed down and content was stabilized. In the next step, the content of yellow pigments gradually decreased, and the content of red pigments gradually increased. Later, the level of yellow pigment decreased significantly, and the accumulation rate of red pigment increased significantly. Last, the appearance color of safflower was red, with yellow parts barely visible, and accumulation of red pigment was the highest and of the yellow pigment was the lowest in content.

Comparative analysis in different organs and tissue‐specific metabolite profiling of Atractylodes lancea from four regions by GC–MS and laser microdissection

“…It was found that there were significant differences in the volatile oils of P. cablin from different regions, and these could be divided into two chemical types: Pogostone and Patchouliol types. In addition, the volatile oil components, such as flavonoids, coumarins, and alkaloids, can be divided into chemical types [41–43]. Therefore, in this study, we confirmed that there are differences in the chemical components or contents of different chemical types of the same plant, which may be used for the identification of genuine medicinal materials.…”

Integrated metabolomics and transcriptome analysis on flavonoid biosynthesis in flowers of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) during colour-transition

“…It can be inferred from the structure of the flavonoid glycosides in safflower ( Yue et al, 2013 ; Pu et al, 2021 ) ( Fig. 1 ) that two kinds of UGT might participate in flavonoid glycosides, O -glycosyltransferases (OGTs) and C -glycosyltransferases (CGTs).…”

“…Currently, the core flavonoid biosynthetic pathway is well understood ( Grotewold, 2006 ; Zhang, Butelli & Martin, 2014 ; Zhao & Tao, 2015 ). In safflower, according to a reported paper ( Yue et al, 2013 ; Pu et al, 2021 ), there are mainly several flavonoid glycosides in safflower, such as HSYA, carthamin, and kaempferol-3- O - β -D-glucoside. According to their structure ( Fig.…”

“…Note that the flowers of safflower change their colour from yellow (Y) to red (R) during flowering ( Ren et al, 2019 ; Pu et al, 2021 ). However, much of the gene and chemical bases during colour transition are still unclear.…”

“…However, much of the gene and chemical bases during colour transition are still unclear. There are some reports on the chemical composition of safflower, while most research uses HPLC coupled with DAD, HPLC coupled with MS, or even UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS to analyze the components of safflower ( Kazuma et al, 2000 ; Yue et al, 2013 ; Kim et al, 2020 ; Pu et al, 2021 ). However, most of these reports have some shortcomings, such as a small number of compounds.…”