Metabolomics Study of Cultivated Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae at Different Growth Stages using UHPLC‐QTOF‐MS Coupled with Multivariate Data Analysis

Abstract Introduction Bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae (known as Chuān bèi mǔ in China, BFC) contain fritillaria steroidal alkaloids as the bioactive ingredients and are widely used as traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of cough and phlegm. Due to limited wild resources, the cultivated species are becoming predominantly used in Chinese traditional medicine markets. Objective To assess the impact of different growth stages on the alkaloids of cultivated BFC and establish a reference for quality control and guidance for appropriate harvesting practices. Methods The ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐QTOF‐MS) metabolomic strategy was applied to determine potential chemical markers for the discrimination and quality control of cultivated BFC in different growth stages. The molecular feature extraction and multivariate statistical analysis were applied to alkaloid extraction and full metabolomic profiling of cultivated BFC for classification and marker compound characterisation. Result This approach allowed the establishment of a fast and efficient comparative multivariate analysis of the metabolite composition of 42 samples covering growth of cultivated BFC ranging in age from one to seven years old. Four alkaloid compounds were identified in cultivated BFC based on accurate mass, retention time, and MS/MS fragments. These compounds may be used as potential chemical markers for the classification and discrimination of cultivated BFC samples indifferent growth stages. Conclusions The proposed analytical method in combination with multivariate statistical analysis comprised a useful and powerful strategy to explore the chemical ingredients and transforming mechanisms of cultivated BFC and for quality evaluation and control. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.