Study on Flavonoids and Bioactivity Features of Pericarp of Citrus reticulata “Chachi” at Different Harvest Periods

Abstract

Dry mature pericarp of Citrus reticulata “Chachi” (PCR), Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae Chachiensis, is a traditional Chinese medicine that displays characteristics of different usage at different harvest times in clinical use. The corresponding changes in the bioactive components in PCR from different harvest times remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, broadly targeted metabolomics technology was used to compare the differences in bioactive components among pericarps of PCR, which are the raw material of PCR at different growth stages. In the results, 210 kinds of flavonoid metabolites were detected. The content of hesperidin in red PCR harvested in December was higher than that in Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium Viride (CRPV) and reddish PCR harvested from July to November. Furthermore, the content of nobiletin, tangeretin, and 3,3′,4′,5,6,7,8-heptamethoxyflavone in CRPV from July to September was higher than that in the PCR harvested at other times. In addition, the result of cluster analysis and PCA showed that CRPV harvested from July to September had an obvious grouping pattern with the reddish PCR and the red PCR harvested from October to December. Differential metabolites in six comparison groups (A1 vs. A6, A1 vs. A2, A2 vs. A3, A3 vs. A4, A4 vs. A5, A5 vs. A6) were 67, 48, 14, 51, 42, and 40, respectively. The common differential metabolite of four comparison groups was 3′,4′,7-trihydroxyflavone (A1 vs. A2, A2 vs. A3, A3 vs. A4, A4 vs. A5). All the flavonoid differential metabolites screened were enriched in 16 metabolic pathways. Moreover, the results of the evaluation of the total antioxidant capacity indicated that CRPV in August was a suitable raw material for the production of antioxidants. Through molecular docking, the content of potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 components in the PCR in October was higher than that in the PCR in other periods. These results further proved that PCR at different harvest times was endowed with different efficacy and usage due to the difference in the accumulation of bioactive components.

A comprehensive strategy for prediction and quality evaluation of standardized planting herbs based on plant metabolomics coupled with extreme learning machine: Astragali Radix as an example

“…Figure 2A,B demonstrates the total ion current (TIC) superimposition diagrams of BP and AP obtained in positive ion mode by plotting the time versus the corresponding mass spectrometry signal intensity. 33 It can be easily found that the BP group and the AP group had similar peaks, but the overlap of the TIC plots was significantly better and the information of the common peaks was clearer in the AP group compared with the BP group. This indicates that the standardized planting procedure produced differences in the overall chemical characteristics of AR, and this difference resulted in a more concentrated and uniform chemical composition of AR after standardized planting.…”

“…In order to assess the effect of planting patterns on compounds in AR, metabolites in samples before and after standardized planting were analyzed using a broad range of untargeted metabolomics assays. Figure 2A,B demonstrates the total ion current (TIC) superimposition diagrams of BP and AP obtained in positive ion mode by plotting the time versus the corresponding mass spectrometry signal intensity 33 . It can be easily found that the BP group and the AP group had similar peaks, but the overlap of the TIC plots was significantly better and the information of the common peaks was clearer in the AP group compared with the BP group.…”

Flavonoids contribute most to discriminating aged Guang Chenpi (Citrus reticulata ‘Chachi’) by spectrum‐effect relationship analysis between LC‐Q‐Orbitrap/MS fingerprint and ameliorating spleen deficiency activity

“…Nonvolatile components are considered the characteristic components for identifying Guang Chenpi harvest at different stages (Zheng et al, 2021 ). Targeted metabolomics technology combined with total antioxidant capacity analysis showed that flavones in CRP with different harvest times were endowed with different efficacy and usage (Liang et al, 2022 ). As for the anti‐spleen deficiency bioactivity identified in this research, some PMFs were also identified as the most important compounds in distinguishing storage years, especially the 5‐year ones.…”