Qualitative Analysis and Componential Differences of Chemical Constituents in Lysimachiae Herba from Different Habitats (Sichuan Basin) by UFLC-Triple TOF-MS/MS

Lysimachiae Herba (LH), called Jinqiancao in Chinese, is an authentic medical herb in Sichuan Province often used in the prescription of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, in recent years, there has been a lack of comprehensive research on its chemical components. In addition, the landform of Sichuan Province varies greatly from east to west and the terrain is complex and diverse, which has an important influence on the chemical constituents in LH. In this study, ultrafast liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-triple TOF-MS/MS) was used to analyze the samples of LH from eight different habitats in Sichuan Basin. The constituents were identified according to the precise molecular weight, the fragment ions of each chromatographic peak and the retention time of the compound obtained by high-resolution mass spectrometry, combined with software database searches, standard comparisons and the related literature. Differential chemical constituents were screened using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and t-tests. The results showed that a total of 46 constituents were identified and inferred, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, amino acids, tannins, fatty acids and coumarins; the fragmentation pathways of the main constituents were preliminarily deduced. According to the variable importance in projection (VIP) and p-values, four common differential constituents were screened out, 2-O-galloylgalactaric acid, quercetin 3-O-xylosyl-rutinoside, nicotiflorin and kaempferol 3-rutinosyl 7-O-alpha-l-rhamnoside. This study provides basic information for the establishment of a comprehensive quality evaluation system for LH.