Bioactivity Ingredients of Chaenomeles speciosa against Microbes: Characterization by LC-MS and Activity Evaluation

Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nakai is a dual-purpose Chinese herbal medicine and functional food favored by minorities in Southwest China, and its fruits are used for the treatment of dyspepsia, dysentery, enteritis, and rheumatism inflammation. Some diseases may be related to microbial infection; however, it is not known how the fruits possess antimicrobial activity. We evaluated the antimicrobial bioctivity of different evaluation extracts of C. speciosa fruits by in vitro and in vivo with colony-forming unit assays, and the strongest bioactive-guided fraction was selected for column chromatography (CC), UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS, and NMR spectroscopy to confirm the chemical constituents. The most possible antimicrobial mechanism of C. speciosa fruits was explored by metabolomics approach, fluorescence microscopy imaging, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thirty compounds, which were major characteristic ions of the bioactive fraction, were determined precisely. The bioactive fraction could inhibit 18 pathogenic microorganisms, significantly reduced, especially drug-resistant bacteria, compared to ampicillin sodium salt, fluconazole, and berberine chloride form; and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) or minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values were in the range of 0.1-1 mg/mL. The compounds 2'-methoxyaucuparin (1) and oleanolic acid (20) not only have antibacterial activity but also may have synergistic effects. Further, the bioactive fraction might inhibit the biofilm formation, enhance immunity, and restore bacterial infection damage in vitro and in vivo to kill microorganisms. The data indicated that C. speciosa fruits' major bioactive fraction enriched with triterpenes, flavonoids, and phenolics could be developed as a functional supplement for individuals to prevent and treat microbial infection.