Research progress and prospects for the use of plant metabolomics in quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicinal materials / 药学学报

The quality of traditional Chinese medicine has a direct impact on the effectiveness and safety of its use, and is the premise necessary to ensure the healthy development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry. Comprehensive and accurate control and evaluation of the quality of medicinal materials is of great significance to the traditional Chinese medicine industry, but the complexity and dynamics of the chemical composition of medicinal materials makes their quality evaluation a challenge. Plant metabolomics provides an integrated and comprehensive analysis that is consistent with the holistic approach of traditional Chinese medicine. Chemical information therein promotes the establishment of a traceable system and provides new ideas and methods for the quality evaluation of medicinal materials. Plant metabolomics in the quality evaluation of medicinal materials is gradually increasing, and the core is the screening and identification of differential metabolites or specific marker compounds by means of stoichiometry. This study focused on the main factors that affect the quality of medicinal materials, such as origin, environmental adversity, varieties, harvest time, commercial specification and TCM processing. We describe the research progress in plant metabolomics combined with chemometrics analysis for the quality control and evaluation of medicinal materials, summarize existing problems, identify trends, and propose future research directions. Metabolomics plays an increasingly important role in the quality evaluation of medicinal materials, but the absolute qualitative and quantitative information of metabolomics needs to be further developed, and a single 'omics' technique is not sufficient for an in-depth analysis of medicinal value. In the future, standardization of plant metabolomics methods and a more complete database should be actively promoted, and plant metabolomics should be integrated into quality marker exploration. Plant metabolomics will need to be integrated with other 'omics' methods to improve the quality and evaluation system of medicinal materials.

Distribution of Epimedium sagittatum and its research progress on quality characteristics / 中草药

To promote the rational development and utilization of Epimedium sagittatum, and to propose the utilization strategies and future research suggestions. The distribution was illuminated based on the examination of herbarium specimens and our field investigation. At the same time, the quality characteristics of different harvest time, different parts and different producing areas were summarized according to the literature review and our previous researches. In terms of the distribution, E. sagittatum is a widely distributed species in Epimedium. However, there were many errors in the identification of herbarium specimens. At least 13 taxa were wrongly identified as E. sagittatum. The distribution of E. sagittatum was not as extensive as previously recorded in the literature. Although the distribution of E. sagittatum has been recorded in 12 provinces and in Chongqing Municipality, it was mainly distributed in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces, and the resources in each region were not abundant. In terms of quality characteristics, there were great differences in both composition and contents of the active components among different germplasm. Some of the germplasm in Hunan, Hubei and Sichuan provinces were excellent. However, the stability and homogeneity were not ideal. Therefore, the utilization of E. sagittatum should depend on the quality characteristics. It was found that there were great differences among populations and which were closely related to the genetic basis. The effect of physiological ecology on quality and its mechanism, as well as the molecular mechanism of quality formation should be paid more attention in the future.

Pharmacognostical study on four origin plants of folk medicine Sikuaiwa / 中国中药杂志

In order to develop characteristic folk medicine resources in Jiangxi, a pharmacognostical study was systematically performed for four different origin plants of Sikuaiwa, the result of study provides the microscopic features of powder and tissue of the crude drug. The research provided reference for the identification of Sikuaiwa, as well as a theoretical basis for the further development and the formulation of quality standards.

Taxonomic research on Epimedium sagittatum species complex and discussion / 中草药

Epimedium sagittatum and its related species are the most controversially defined in Epimedium taxonomy, and are referred as E. sagittatum species complex. So far 11 taxa are included in the complex, but the taxonomical status of most species/varieties is probably open to question. New species based on a single of solely on vegetative characters are of frequent occurrence. Species based on plasticity of phenotype variation should not be regarded as "good species". Based on the investigation in the herbaria, literature, and fields, we found that the morphological variations between some taxa were continuous. Thus E. sagittatum var. guizhouense and E. pudingense were treated as a synonym of E. sagittatum and E. sagittatum var. glabratum, respectively. Six taxa, namely E. coactum, E. coactum var. longtouhum, E. myrianthum var. jianheense, E. multiflorum, E. lobophyllum, and E. jingzhouense were integrated into E. myrianthum. Therefore, the taxonomic problems of E. sagittatum species complex now are back to the relationship between E. myrianthum and E. sagittatum. In morphology, E. myrianthum closely resembles E. sagittatum with only obvious difference in the form of inflorescence, and might be easily confused. Furthermore, in terms of several key taxonomic characters, there was overlapping question between the two taxa, and further research on taxonomy based on more extensive field investigation were needed. A correct species concept stems from a correct and thorough understanding of the nature of variation pattern of plants and its taxonomical value. In general, lack of scientific field investigation and morphological observation, inadequate study on variation range, variation pattern, taxonomical value, and narrow species concept are the reasons for the taxonomical difficulty to deal with.