Introduction: The seeds of Cassia obtusifolia L. (Cassiae [C.] semen) have been widely used as both food and traditional Chinese medicine in China. Objectives: We aimed to analyze the metabolic mechanisms underlying C. semen germination.Materials and Methods: Different samples of C. semen at various germination stages were collected. These samples were subjected to 1 H-NMR and UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap-MS-based untargeted metabolomics analysis together with transcriptomics analysis.Results: A total of 50 differential metabolites (mainly amino acids and sugars) and 20 key genes involved in multiple pathways were identified in two comparisons of different groups (36 h vs 12 h and 84 h vs 36 h). The metabolite-gene network for seed germination was depicted. In the germination of C. semen, fructose and mannose metabolism was activated in the testa rupture period, indicating more energy was needed (36 h). In the embryonic axis elongation period (84 h), the pentose and glucuronate interconversions pathway and the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway were activated, which suggested some nutrient sources (nitrogen and sugar) were in demand. Furthermore, oxygen, energy, and nutrition should be supplied throughout the whole germination process. These global views open up an integrated perspective for understanding the complex biological regulatory mechanisms during the germination process of C. semen.

Introduction The seeds of Cassia obtusifolia L. (Cassiae Semen) have been widely used as both food and traditional Chinese medicine in China. Objectives For better understanding the metabolic mechanism along with germination, different samples of Cassiae Semen at various germinating stages were collected. Methods These samples were subjected to 1H-NMR and UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap-MS based untargeted metabolomics analysis together with transcription analysis. Results A total of fifty differential metabolites (mainly amino acids and sugars) and twenty key genes involved in multiple pathways were identified in two comparisons of different groups (36 h vs 12 h and 84 h vs 36 h). The metabolic and gene network for seed germination was depicted. In the germination of C. Semen, the fructose and mannose metabolism pathway was activated, indicating energy was more needed in the testa rupture period (36 h). In the embryonic axis elongation period (84 h), the pentose and glucuronate interconversions pathway, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway were activated, which suggested some nutrient sources (nitrogen and sugar) would be demanded. Furthermore, oxygen, energy and nutrition should be supplied through the whole germination process. These global views open up an integrated perspective for understanding the complex biological regulatory mechanism during seed germination process of C. Semen.

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Rationale Helwingia japonica (HJ), a traditional medicinal plant, is commonly used for the treatment of dysentery, blood in the stool, and scald burns. Three major HJ species, Helwingia japonica (Thunb.) Dietr. (QJY), Helwingia himalaica Hook. f. et Thoms. ex C. B. Clarke, and Helwingia chinensis Batal., share great similarities in both morphology and chemical constituents. The discrimination of medicinal plants directly affects their pharmacological and clinical effects. Here, we solved the taxonomy uncertainty of these three HJ species and explored the discrimination and study of other traditional medicines (TMs). Methods First, the anti‐inflammatory effects of the three HJ species were compared using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced inflammatory responses in mouse leukemia cells of monocyte macrophage (RAW) 264.7 cells. Then, plant metabolomics were performed in 48 batches of samples to discover chemical markers for discriminating different HJ species. Finally, network pharmacology was applied to explore the linkages among constituents, targets, and signaling pathways. Results In vitro experiments showed that the QJY exhibited the most potential anti‐inflammatory activities. Meanwhile, 172 compounds were tentatively identified and eight metabolites with higher relative content in QJY were designated as chemical markers to distinguish QJY and the other two species. According to the property of absorbed in vivo, threonic acid, arginine, and tyrosine were selected to construct a component–target–pathway network. The network pharmacology analysis confirmed that the chemotaxonomy differentiation was consistent with the bioactive assessment. Conclusions The present study demonstrates that bioactivity evaluation integrated with plant metabolomics and network pharmacology could be used as an effective approach to discriminate different TMs and discover the active compounds.

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