Metabolomic approach for rapid differentiation of Fritillaria bulbs by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and multivariate statistical analysis

The bulbs of Fritillaria have been used for centuries as food and medicinal products in many Asian countries. Different Fritillaria species have distinct pharmacological effects despite of their similar appearances. Effective differentiation of Fritillaria species can avoid adulteration and is crucial to its clinical uses. In this paper, a hybrid method of matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and multivariate statistical analysis was developed for the rapid and reliable differentiation of Fritillaria species for the first time. Significantly different patterns for five Fritillaria species were obtained by MALDI-MS after instant sample extractions. Different groups of Fritillaria were confidently differentiated via an orthogonal partial least square model. In addition, a metabolomic taxonomy of five Fritillaria species was obtained based on MALDI-MS data.