Aralia elata buds contain many nutrients and have a pleasant taste with a unique flavour. Previous studies mainly focused on triterpene saponins in the root bark of this species, but little information existed concerning other chemical components, especially in the buds. To better understand the nutritional value of A. elata, we compared total flavonoids, total saponins, phenolic compounds and mineral element contents in the buds of A. elata collected from eight different geographical regions (S1: Benxi; S2: Linjiang; S3: Pingwu; S4: Enshi; S5: Changbaishan; S6: Shangzhi; S7: Xiaoxinganling and S8: Harbin) in China. The results showed that the basic composition in the buds presented a wide variation, with ash (8.76-10.35%), crude fibre (5.38-11.07%), polysaccharides (33.85-46.79 mg g-1), total flavonoid content (TFC, 4.06-48.63 mg g-1) and total saponins (13.62-27.85 mg g-1). UPLC combined with the LC-MS/MS method was used for the phenolic compounds analysis, and 11 phenolic compounds were identified and quantified in the eight samples. The total phenolic content in Enshi (S4) was significantly higher than others, and quercetin was the predominant phenolic compound in this sample. We used ICP-OES to identify and quantify nine mineral elements in the buds. The Fe and Cu contents in S5 were much higher than that of others. We obtained maximum Mg, Mn, Co and Ni contents in S4, and found rich Zn content in S7. Moreover, the maximum estimated quantities of Ca and Sr were found in S8. This study indicated that the chemical composition in the buds of A. elata was obviously affected by geographical origin. Our results provided an essential theoretical basis of quality evaluation of A. elata buds in the food production field.
Keywords: Aralia elata; geographical origin; mineral elements; phenolic compounds.