[Comparative study on quality of wild Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus from different botanical origins and geographical regions].

Abstract

Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus(FCB) is a precious geo-authentic medicinal material from high-altitude regions, and its pharmacologically active substances are primarily alkaloids and nucleosides. To systematically evaluate the quality of these active substances in wild samples from different botanical origins and geographical regions, the content of four alkaloids(peimisine, peimine, peiminine, and edpetiline) and twelve nucleosides in 19 wild samples of different origins(Fritillaria cirrhosa, F. unibracteata, and F. przewalskii) was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detector(HPLC-ELSD) and diode array detector(HPLC-DAD), respectively. The compositional differences were further compared by principal component analysis(PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA), and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA). The results showed that alkaloid contents varied significantly among different botanical origins and geographical regions, while nucleoside content showed relatively minor variations. F. cirrhosa exhibited higher total alkaloid and individual alkaloid content than the other two species. However, substantial intraspecific variations were observed among samples from different geographical regions. Peimisine and peimine were detectable in most samples, whereas peiminine and edpetiline were not detected in the majority of samples. Although certain differences in the composition and content of the pharmacologically active components existed among the three original species, the overall chemical profiles exhibited considerable similarity, preliminarily supporting their interchangeability in medicinal use. The samples of F. cirrhosa collected from Daofu, Litang, and Xiangcheng in the Ganzi Prefecture were rich in both alkaloids and nucleosides, suggesting that these populations may represent potential superior provenances of FCB. This study provides experimental data to support selective breeding and production base site selection for FCB. However, owing to limitations in the representativeness of the sampling areas, comparability among samples, and detection sensitivity, the distribution and accumulation patterns of pharmacologically active substances among species and across production areas have not yet been clearly elucidated. Further research with expanded sampling coverage and higher-sensitivity analytical techniques is required.