UHPLC–HRMS based saponins profiling of three morphological regions in American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) and their correlation with the antioxidant activity

Abstract

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) is used as tonic plant and high-grade nourishment. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC–HRMS) method was established for identifying the chemical constituent in three morphological regions of American ginseng, including main root (MR), rhizome (RH) and lateral root (LR). The 63 saponins was identified in different morphological regions of 10 American ginseng samples. The chemical maker compounds in corresponding morphological region, while the major compounds of MR (malonyl-ginsenoside Rb₁, ginsenoside Rd, Rs₂ and pseudo-RC₁), LR (stipuleanoside R₂, ginsenoside Re and malonyl-ginsenoside Rc), and RH (malonyl-ginsenoside Rd, Rb₃, and chikusetsu saponin II) were discovered. Correlation analysis showed that 11 compounds were positively correlated with the antioxidant activity of American ginseng.

Appendix

See Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Fig. 1

Total ion chromatograms of American ginseng of MR, LR and RH in the negative ion mode

Fig. 2

The PLS-DA score plot of RH, LR and MR

Fig. 3

The hierarchical clustering heat map visualizes the intensities of the 18 ginsenosides datasets from RH, MR, and LR (n = 10). C40, Compound 40

Fig. 4

Correlation map between the 18 maker compounds and antioxidant activities (DPPH and T-AOC) of American ginseng in three morphological regions. Red and blue represent positive (0 < r < 1) and negative (− 1 < r < 0) correlations, respectively. *p value < 0.05 and **p value < 0.01 and ***p value < 0.001