Comparison of Phytochemical Profile of Wild and Cultivated American Ginseng using Metabolomics by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Authors: LIU, ZHIHAO - University Of Maryland; GAO, YING - Middle Tennessee State University; Chen, Pei; MOORE, RODERICK - Middle Tennessee State University; Sun, Jianghao; ZHANG, MENGLIANG - Middle Tennessee State University

Submitted to: Molecules
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/16/2022
Publication Date: 12/16/2022
Citation: Liu, Z., Gao, Y., Chen, P., Moore, R., Sun, J., Zhang, M. 2022. Comparison of Phytochemical Profile of Wild and Cultivated American Ginseng using Metabolomics by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry. Molecules. 28:1. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28010009.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28010009

Interpretive Summary: American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) roots are used as dietary health supplements and additives to food, beverages, and cosmetics and for the treatment of many human ailments. Due to the scarcity of wild-harvested ginseng, there was limited research on the wild populations of American ginseng. This study aims to investigate the chemical profiles of wild American ginseng compared with its cultivated counterpart using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS)-based metabolomics approaches. It was found that both ginsenoside and non-ginsenoside profiles of wild and cultivated ginseng were well-discriminated by untargeted analysis. Our results suggested that using the identified characteristic components as chemical markers to identify cultivated and wild America ginseng is effective and viable, and the strategy would be beneficial for the quality evaluation of America ginseng.

Technical Abstract: American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) has been recognized as a valuable herbal medicine, and ginsenosides are the most important components responsible for the health-beneficial effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the secondary metabolites responsible for the differentiation of wild and cultivated American ginsengs with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS)-based metabolomic approach. An in-house ginsenoside library was developed to facilitate data processing and metabolite identification. Data visualization methods, such as heatmap and volcano plots, were also selected to extract discriminated ion features. The results suggested that the ginsenoside profiles of wild and cultivated ginsengs were significantly different. The octillol (OT)-type ginsenosides were present in greater abundance and varieties in wild American ginsengs; however, a wider distribution of the protopanaxadiol (PPD)- and oleanolic acid (OA)-type ginsenosides were found in cultivated American ginseng. Based on the tentative identification and semi-quantification, the amounts of five ginsenosides (i.e., notoginsenoside H, glucoginsenoside Rf, notoginsenoside R1, pseudoginsenoside RT2, and ginsenoside Rc) were 2.3-54.5 fold higher in wild ginseng in comparison to those in the cultivated ginseng, and the content of six ginsenosides (chicusetsusaponin IVa, malonylginsenoside Rd, pseudoginsenoside Rc1, malonylfloralginsenoside Rd6, Ginsenoside Rd, and malonylginsenoside Rb1) was 2.6-14.4 fold higher in cultivated ginseng comparing to wild ginseng. Additionally, the non-ginsenoside metabolites, such as organic acid derivatives, were also factors. Our results suggested that the in-house metabolite library can significantly reduce the complexity of the data processing for ginseng samples, and UHPLC-HRMS is effective and robust for identifying characteristic components (marker compounds) for differentiation of wild and cultivated American ginseng. Keywords: American ginseng, wild, cultivated, ginsenoside, discrimination, HRMS.