UPLC fingerprint-based analysis of differences in chemical components from different parts of Stephania tetrandra / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To analyze and compare UPLC fingerprints of root, rhizome, stem, and leaf of Stephania tetrandra, learn the differences in chemical component types and contents of main active components, and provide basis for rational development and utilization of S. tetrandra. Methods: UPLC was used to obtain characteristic chromatograms of different parts; The Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprints of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Version 2012) was run to capture the common peaks of different parts and calculate their similarity and analyze the characteristic peaks of different parts. SPSS 23.0 was run to compare the difference in component contents of the roots and rhizomes using the paired sample t-test. Results: The similarity in chemical composition between root and rhizome was 0.928, indicating they have similar chemical composition, and both of them contained tetrandrine and fangchinoline, the index components. The similarity between rhizome and leaf was 0.947; The similarity was low between stem, leaf and root and rhizome, and there were no tetrandrine and fangchinoline in the first two parts. The results of paired samples t-test show that the total content of chemical components in rhizome was higher than that in roots, and the mainly difference came from other non-index components, but there was no significant difference between tetrandrine and fangchinoline. Conclusion: Significant differences are present in chemical composition types and contents of different medicinal parts of S. tetrandra; The type of chemical components in rhizome is similar to that in root, and the content of some components in rhizome is significantly higher than that in root, which means that rhizomes can be used as an equivalent of roots. Stems and leaves cannot be a substitute for roots because they do not contain tetrandrine and fangchinoline, but they contain many other chemical components which can be utilized as a new resource.