title: Quality Assessment of Panax notoginseng from Different Regions through the Analysis of Marker Chemicals, Biological Potency and Ecological Factors.
abstract: Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen, called Sanqi in China, is a perennial herb that has been used as a medicinal herb in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 400 years. Because notoginseng is included in many proprietary Chinese medicines, the quality of notoginseng directly affects its efficacy and safety. However, considering the complex and special growth environment requirements of notoginseng, it is insufficient to evaluate its quality based solely on the analysis of marker chemicals. Thus, in this study, we tried to evaluate the quality of notoginseng with integrated indicators: (1) the concentration of five marker chemicals, notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rb1 and ginsenoside Rd; (2) the anticoagulant activity (ACA); and (3) twenty-one ecological factors (e.g., longitude, latitude, elevation and soil data). Using these 27 parameters, notoginseng from different regions could be distinguished effectively, indicating a remarkable divergence of quality. A correlation analysis showed that variations of the ecological factors were closely associated with the saponins content and biopotency. For instance, the total nitrogen (TN), alkali hydrolysis nitrogen (AHN) and rapidly available potassium (RAPT) were significantly correlated with ACA, and RAPT was significantly correlated with the content of ginsenoside Rd and notoginsenoside R1. The results demonstrated that the high-quality notoginseng was produced from the emerging regions such as Kunming, Qujing and Honghe, which had higher ACA and saponin content than the notoginseng produced in traditional regions such as Wenshan and Baise.
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China.|China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing, 100039, China.|Dali University, Dali, 671003, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Zhu
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Genuine Medicinal Materials Research and Development Centre, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China.
authors.forename: Da-Hui
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China.|China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing, 100039, China.
authors.forename: Ding-Kun
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing, 100039, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: China Medico Corporation, International building 811#, Guang-qu Men street, 80#, Dong-cheng district, Beijing, 100062, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: China Medico Corporation, International building 811#, Guang-qu Men street, 80#, Dong-cheng district, Beijing, 100062, China.
authors.forename: Gui-Lin
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: China Medico Corporation, International building 811#, Guang-qu Men street, 80#, Dong-cheng district, Beijing, 100062, China.
authors.forename: Li-Juan
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China.|China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing, 100039, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-He
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, National Resource Centre for Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing, 100700, China.
authors.forename: Lu-Qi
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China.|China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing, 100039, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D036145:Ginsenosides / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D053723:Panax notoginseng / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development*; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D036145:Ginsenosides; D028321:Plant Preparations