Plant Cell Reports

, Volume 29, Issue 12, pp 1325–1337 | Cite as

Quality evaluation of snow lotus (Saussurea): quantitative chemical analysis and antioxidant activity assessment

  • Jian Qiu
  • Xiaofeng Xue
  • Fudong Chen
  • Chonghui Li
  • Nuer Bolat
  • Xiaojun Wang
  • Yuzhen Baima
  • Qiao Zhao
  • Dexiu Zhao
  • Fengshan Ma
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

Snow lotus is commonly used as a medicinal plant and has great pharmacological value. To protect these endangered plants, in vitro propagation and cell cultures have been established in order to meet the growing market demand. The phenolic composition, antioxidant activities, total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) from three most commonly used species, in vitro propagated lines and the cell cultures were investigated to qualify their pharmacological value. Quantitative analysis showed that the phenolics varied greatly among different species and the same species at different habitats. From this it can be inferred that the phenolics were influenced by genetic background and the environmental conditions. Significant correlations were observed between the antioxidant activity and several phenolics/TPC/TFC, suggesting that the phenolics are a major contributor of the antioxidant activity and are important for quality evaluation of snow lotus. Based on the abundance of phenolics, TPC, TFC and antioxidant activity, the order of the quality for wild species would be Saussurea involucrata > Saussurea medusa > Saussurea gossypiphora. For S. medusa, its quality judged by origin would be Shigatse > Lhasa > Nagqu. For in vitro propagated plants, the matured plants could be a reliable substitute for wild plants, and the dynamics of phenolics is critical for quality control of this monocarpic species. We provide the first report of quality comparison between the wild plants and the cell cultures. The advantages of developing cell cultures as alternatives for plants collected from the wild are discussed.

Keywords

Phenolics Flavonoid Antioxidant activity Snow lotus Saussurea involucrata Saussurea medusa Saussurea gossypiphora UPLC 

Abbreviations

UPLC

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography

HPLC

High-performance liquid chromatography

ABTS

2,2′-Azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)

TPTZ

2,4,6-Tripyridyl-S-triazine

Trolox

6-Hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid

FRAP

Ferric reducing/antioxidant power

TEAC

Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity

TPC

Total phenolic content

TFC

Total flavonoid content

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Notes

Acknowledgments

Identification of the wild snow lotus plants were done by Dr. Yilin Chen (Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China). Dr. Liansheng Wang (Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing) is acknowledged for his generous gift of the standards. Financial support was from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30472158) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KGCX2–YW–509).

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jian Qiu
    • 1
    • 2
  • Xiaofeng Xue
    • 4
  • Fudong Chen
    • 1
    • 2
  • Chonghui Li
    • 2
  • Nuer Bolat
    • 5
  • Xiaojun Wang
    • 5
  • Yuzhen Baima
    • 6
  • Qiao Zhao
    • 3
  • Dexiu Zhao
    • 1
  • Fengshan Ma
    • 7
  1. 1.Key Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Environmental Molecular Physiology, Institute of BotanyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
  2. 2.Graduate University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
  3. 3.Plant Biology DivisionThe Samuel Roberts Noble FoundationArdmoreUSA
  4. 4.Bee Research InstituteChinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesBeijingChina
  5. 5.Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & ChemistryChinese Academy of SciencesUighurChina
  6. 6.Tibet Academy of Agriculture and Animal SciencesTibetChina
  7. 7.Department of BiologyWilfrid Laurier UniversityWaterlooCanada

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