title: Revealing metabolomic variations in Cortex Moutan from different root parts using HPLC-MS method.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The distribution of metabolites in the different root parts of Cortex Moutan (the root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews) is not well understood, therefore, scientific evidence is not available for quality assessment of Cortex Moutan.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To reveal metabolomic variations in Cortex Moutan in order to gain deeper insights to enable quality control.
  
  
  METHODS
  Metabolomic variations in the different root parts of Cortex Moutan were characterised using high-performance liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) and multivariate data analysis. The discriminating metabolites in different root parts were evaluated by the one-way analysis of variance and a fold change parameter.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The metabolite profiles of Cortex Moutan were largely dominated by five primary and 41 secondary metabolites . Higher levels of malic acid, gallic acid and mudanoside-B were mainly observed in the second lateral roots, whereas dihydroxyacetophenone, benzoyloxypaeoniflorin, suffruticoside-A, kaempferol dihexoside, mudanpioside E and mudanpioside J accumulated in the first lateral and axial roots. The highest contents of paeonol, galloyloxypaeoniflorin and procyanidin B were detected in the axial roots. Accordingly, metabolite compositions of Cortex Moutan were found to vary among different root parts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The axial roots have higher quality than the lateral roots in Cortex Moutan due to the accumulation of bioactive secondary metabolites associated with plant physiology. These findings provided important scientific evidence for grading Cortex Moutan on the general market.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710069, China.
authors.forename: Chaoni
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yongyong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yajun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xinfeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009928:Organ Specificity; D029596:Paeonia / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010936:Plant Extracts; C038881:moutan cortex
keywords: Cortex Moutan; HPLC-MS; Paeonia suffruticosa; metabolomic