Comparison of the Chemical Profiles and Antioxidant Activities of Different Parts of Cultivated Cistanche deserticola Using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry and a 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl-Based Assay

Abstract

In this study, a sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array coupled to quadruple time-of-flight mass (UPLC-PDA-Q/TOF-MS) method and a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-based assay were used to determine the chemical constituents and screen the antioxidant activity profiles of the methanol extracts of different parts of cultivated Cistanche deserticola (C. deserticola). First, qualitative and quantitative chemical composition analyses of the different parts of cultivated C. deserticola were conducted. Obvious differences were observed between the chemical profiles and content distribution of phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs) from the different cultivated C. deserticola parts. The average contents of the six PhGs parts varied from 4.91 to 72.56 mg/g DW (milligrams of extract per gram of plant dry weight) in the six different parts of Cistanche deserticola, displaying a significant decreasing trend from the bottom to the top of cultivated C. deserticola and the highest content in the stems. From the bottom to the top of the plant, the echinacoside and cistanoside A content decreased and the 2′-acetylacteoside content increased. Second, an offline DPPH assay revealed that the total scavenging activities of all parts within the range of 20–500 µg/mL increased in a concentration-dependent manner and that good antioxidant activities were found in all plant parts, particularly in the stems, which could be related to their higher PhG content. Additionally, a DPPH-UPLC-PDA method was successfully applied to rapidly screen the antioxidant profiles and antioxidant components of the different cultivated C. deserticola parts. According to the antioxidant profiles before and after the DPPH reaction, there were wide variations in the antioxidant activities of different cultivated C. deserticola parts. Moreover, the antioxidant profiles revealed the presence of major free radical scavengers identified as PhGs using UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. Finally, the established DPPH-UPLC-PDA method was reagent saving, rapid and feasible for correlating the chemical profile of traditional chinese medicines (TCMs) with their bioactivities without isolation and purification and may be used for multicomponent analysis of active substances in other foods and herbs. Therefore, to better harness C. deserticola resources, using this method to evaluate cultivated C. deserticola, a promising herb material with obvious antioxidant activity, is crucial.

Widely Targeted Metabolomics Analysis to Reveal Transformation Mechanism of Cistanche Deserticola Active Compounds During Steaming and Drying Processes

“…Previous studies have shown that the chemical compounds distribute unevenly in the longitudinal direction of Cistanche deserticola ( 1 ). Therefore, to obtain the same initial contents of chemical compounds in each sample, in the present research all selected Cistanche deserticola was cut into three equal parts for the fresh group (A), steamed without drying group (B), and dried after steaming group (C), respectively, by longitudinal segmentation with the longitudinal symmetry axis as the center ( 20 ).…”

“…Cistanche deserticola, belonging to the orobanchaceae family, is one of the most famous tonic medicines and is mainly distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, such as China, Iran, India, Mongolia, and so on (1)(2)(3). Cistanche deserticola serves as one of the most commonly utilized herbal medicines for the treatments of kidney deficiency, impotence, female infertility, morbid leucorrhea, profuse metrorrhagia, and senile (4,5).…”

Plant metabolomics: a new strategy and tool for quality evaluation of Chinese medicinal materials

“…The results showed a significant decreasing trend from the bottom to the top of cultivated Cistanche deserticola and the highest content in the stems. This combination of metabolomics and antioxidant activity detection promotes the link between composition and activity, which will characterize the quality of CMM by a more comprehensive way and provide a guarantee for clinical efficacy [ 75 ]. Chang et al utilized UHPLC-QTOF/MS combined with PCA and OPLS-DA analysis methods to identify different parts of ginseng, showing significant differences in chemical composition.…”

Cistanches Herba, from an endangered species to a big brand of Chinese medicine

“…In the past 20 years, a series of studies have been conducted to profile the chemical composition of CH because of the benefits from the rapid development of analytical instrumentation. Among diverse available analytical tools, liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) is the most frequently employed for qualitative analysis 59,77–86 . Obviously, in comparison of phytochemical purifications, more components are usually identified by applying the proposed mass fragmentation pathways to LC–MS/MS datasets.…”