Study on the dynamic variation of the secondary metabolites in Viscum coloratum using targeted metabolomics

Viscum coloratum (Kom.) Nakai is a well-known medicinal plant. However, the optimal harvest time for V. coloratum is unknown. Few studies were performed to analyze compound variation during storage and to improve post-harvest quality control. Our study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the quality of V. coloratum in different growth stages, and determine the dynamic variation of metabolites. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was used to quantify 29 compounds in V. coloratum harvested in six growth periods, and the associated biosynthetic pathways were explored. The accumulation of different types of compounds were analyzed based on their synthesis pathways. Grey relational analysis was used to evaluate the quality of V. coloratum across different months. The compound variation during storage was analyzed by a high-temperature high-humidity accelerated test. The results showed that the quality of V. coloratum was the hightest in March, followed by November, and became the lowest in July. During storage, compounds in downstream steps of the biosynthesis pathway were first degraded to produce the upstream compounds and some low-molecular-weight organic acids, leading to an increase followed by a decrease in the content of some compounds, and resulted in a large gap during the degradation time course among different compounds. Due to the rapid rate and large degree of degradation, five compounds were tentatively designated as "early warning components" for quality control. This report provides reference for better understanding the biosynthesis and degradation of metabolites in V. coloratum and lays a theoretical foundation for rational application of V. coloratum and better quality control of V. coloratum during storage.