UHPLC UHD Q-TOF MS/MS analysis of the impact of sulfur fumigation on the chemical profile of Codonopsis Radix (Dangshen)

Abstract

Over recent decades sulfur fumigation has been becoming abused in processing some freshly harvested Chinese medicinal herbs, although it is questioned whether sulfur fumigation can result in changes in efficacy and safety of the herbs. One of the herbs commonly processed by sulfur fumigation is Codonopsis Radix (Dangshen). A report showed that lobetyolin content in sulfur-fumigated Dangshen was lower than in air-dried Dangshen. Whereas there is no investigation designed to compare the chemical profiles of the sulfur-fumigated Dangshen and the air-dried Dangshen. In the present study, a rapid and versatile ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultra-high resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC UHD Q-TOF MS/MS) method was developed for comprehensive analysis of the chemical profiles of sulfur-fumigated and air-dried Dangshen samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) demonstrated that there were significant chemical differences between sulfur-fumigated and air-dried Dangshen samples. Among the changed components, 57 compounds were identified, in which 15 sulfur-containing compounds were detected only in sulfur-fumigated samples. The established methods were successfully applied to discriminate sulfur-fumigated Dangshen among commercial samples. Whether the chemical changes caused by sulfur fumigation affect the clinical efficacy and safety of Dangshen needs to be further investigated.

Influence of Sulfur Fumigation on the Chemical Constituents and Antioxidant Activity of Buds of Lonicera japonica

“…Besides residual sulfur dioxide, understanding the chemical changes of the key active ingredients in the herbs induced by sulfur fumigation is also crucially important. Such chemical alteration of TCMs has been evidenced undoubtedly by increasing numbers of studies, involving sulfur-fumigated white peony roots [4][5][6], white ginseng [7], Angelicae dahuricae radix [8], Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus [9], Chrysanthemi flos [10,11] and Codonopsis radix [12].…”

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8] were distributed at the right of the plot, while the sun-dried samples (Nos. [11][12][13][14][15][16] were at the left of the plot ( Figure S1a). The results of partial least squares (PLS) displayed a similar plot.…”

Influence of sulfur fumigation on volatile oil constituents of <i>Codonopsis radix</i> (dangshen) by GC-MS method

“…One report showed that lobetyolin content in sulfur-fumigated Dangshen was lower than that in air-dried Dangshen (Li et al 2010a). In our previous research, significant chemical differences between the organic solvent extracts of sulfur-fumigated and air-dried Dangshen samples were observed (Ma et al 2014). Components of the volatile oil from Dangshen exhibit various bioactivities (Sun et al 2008, Li et al 2010b, Jiang 2001).…”

“…Moreover, some reports showed that sulfur fumigation might cause chemical transformation of original components in the herbs, and consequently affect the clinical efficacy and safety of the herbs (Li et al 2012, Cao et al 2014, Jiang et al 2013, Wang et al 2014. Dangshen, a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal herb with Qi (氣) and Yin (陰) tonifying properties (Ma et al 2014), is usually processed by sulfur fumigation after harvest. Recently, some studies have demonstrated that sulfur fumigation causes dramatic variations in the chemical profiles of Dangshen.…”

Sulfur dioxide residue in sulfur-fumigated edible herbs: The fewer, the safer?

“…Nonetheless, the reality might be different. Besides existing in unconjugated forms, sulfur dioxide could easily react with existing moisture to generate free sulfurous acid (Jiang, Huang, Zheng, & Chen, 2013); more importantly, involve in chemical transformation of many original bioactive components in herbs potentially by esterification and/or addition reactions Li et al, 2012;Ma et al, 2014). Given these facts, it could be inferred that variations in residual sulfur dioxide content during sulfur-fumigation should be more complicated than expected, and there may be some relationship with changes in the original components in the herb.…”