Transcriptomic and targeted metabolome analyses revealed the regulatory mechanisms of the synthesis of bioactive compounds in Citrus grandis 'tomentosa'.

Exocarpium Citri Grandis is a popular Chinese herbal medicine prepared from Citrus grandis 'tomentosa', and it is rich in several bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, coumarins, and volatile oils. However, studies are yet to elucidate the mechanisms of synthesis and regulation of these active components. Therefore, the present study examined the profiles of flavonoids and volatile oil bioactive compounds in plant petals, fruits, and tender leaves, and then performed RNA sequencing on different tissues to identify putative genes involved in the synthesis of bioactive compounds. The results show that the naringin, naringenin, and coumarin contents of the fruitlets were significantly higher than those of the tender leaves and petals, whereas the tender leaves had significantly higher levels of rhoifolin and apigenin. A total of 49 volatile oils, of which 10 were mainly found in flowers, 15 were mainly found in fruits, and 18 were mainly found in leaves, were identified. RNA sequencing identified 9,942 genes that were differentially expressed in different tissues. Further analysis showed that 20, 15, and 74 differentially expressed genes were involved in regulating flavonoid synthesis, regulating coumarin synthesis, and synthesis and regulation of terpenoids, respectively. CHI1 (Cg7g005600) and 1,2Rhat gene (Cg1g023820) may be involved in the regulation of naringin synthesis in C. grandis fruits. The HDR (Cg8g006150) gene, HMGS gene (Cg5g009630) and GGPS (Cg1g003650) may be involved in the regulation and synthesis of volatile oils in C. grandis petals. Overall, the findings of the present study enhance our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of secondary metabolites in C. grandis, which could promote the breeding of C. grandis with desired characteristics.

One-step column chromatographic extraction with gradient elution followed by automatic separation of volatiles, flavonoids and polysaccharides from Citrus grandis.

Citrus grandis Tomentosa is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine and health foods. Its functional components include volatiles, flavonoids and polysaccharides which cannot be effectively extracted through traditional methods. A column chromatographic extraction with gradient elution was developed for one-step extraction of all bioactive substances from C. grandis. Dried material was loaded into a column with petroleum ether: ethanol (8:2, PE) and sequentially eluted with 2-fold PE, 3-fold ethanol: water (6:4) and 8-fold water. The elutes was separated into an ether fraction containing volatiles and an ethanol-water fraction containing flavonoids and polysaccharides. The later was separated into flavonoids and polysaccharides by 80% ethanol precipitation of polysaccharides. Through this procedure, volatiles, flavonoids and polysaccharides in C. grandis were simultaneously extracted at 98% extraction rates and simply separated at higher than 95% recovery rates. The method provides a simple and high-efficient extraction and separation of wide range bioactive substances.