Objectives: To lay a theoretical foundation for studies on strategies for improvement of Magnolia officinalis and select superior gemplasm resources to meet the demand for modernization, industrialization and internationalization of Chinese medicine.
Methods: Seeds of Magnolia officinalis from 13 main habitats of 7 provinces were collected and strewn in a place of Jingning County, Zhejiang. At the age of seven, 195 samples were collected from the same height of the trunk of 15 individual trees of each provenance, and assayed for effective ingredients with HPLC.
Results: Differences in the content of phenols were significant among the seed sources and even greater among individuals within a seed source.
Conclusions: 3 seed sources viz. Wufeng, Hefeng and Enshi of Hubei were obviously superior to other seed sources on account of high contents of magnolol, honokoiol and total phenols. Extension and application of these 3 seed sources is an effective path leading to quality improvement of Magnolia officinalis. With great differences in the content of phenols existing among individuals within each source, there is a big gap between production of medicinal materials by merely using superior seed sources of Magnolia officinalis and the demand of stable and controllable quality for modernization and internationalization of Chinese medicine. But the great difference has laid a material foundation and brought about a great potential for genetic improvement of Magnolia officinalis. Therefore, the superior individuals within a superior seed source are an excellent material for the breeding of Magnolia officinalis.