Study On The Chemical Evaluation Of Gentiana Rigescens From Different Multiple Cropping Systems

Mostly second metabolites are active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). Their contents are not only related to genetic factors, but also ecologicalenvironment factors. The growth environment of medicinal plant changes due to theeffect of the shade of tree on the intensity of light and humidity of soil during themultiple cropping between forest and medicinal plant. Therefore, the environmentchanges can affect the synthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites ofTCM.Gentiana rigescens Franch. ex Hemsl. is a perennial herb, which belongs tofamily Gentianaceae. It is also called as “Jian-Long-Dan” in Chinese. Its roots havethe activities of eliminating damp-heat, quenching the fire of the liver and gall bladder.G. rigescens as a traditional herbal medicine has a long history in China. The marketdemand increases with in-depth research of its medicinal value. Additionally, overexploitation leads wild resources decreased, which can not meet demand. Recently,the artificial large-scale planting of G. rigescens has been developed, and somemultiple cropping systems emerged instead of traditional slope planting. In this study,the artificial planting G. rigescens as the research object, the planting patterns about itwere surveyed. Some modern analysis methods, such as UV, HPLC, and ICP-AESwere used to evaluate G. rigescens from different planting patterns. The purpose wasto explore the relationship between planting patterns and the quality of G. rigescens,which provided reference for the ecological multiple cropping systems of G.rigescens.The UV fingerprints of G. rigescens from eight different planting patterns wereestablished. The main absorption of fingerprints of G. rigescens extracted by ethanoland water were in the range of190~300nm region, many absorption peaks emergedin this region. Dual-index sequence analysis revealed that the common peak ratio wasless than68.2%, and the maximum variation peak ration reached to80.0%. Theresults indicated that the samples from different planting patterns had small similarityand large variability. Fingerprints combined with chemical pattern recognitionmethods could distinguished the different source of G. rigescens. The total secoiridoid glycoside contents in root, stem and leaf of G. rigescensfrom different planting patterns were compared. The results showed that the plantingpatterns had a significant influence on the total secoiridoid glycoside contents of G.rigescens. The content of total secoiridoid glycoside in roots of G. rigescens croppingmixed with Chaenomeles sinensis (Thouin) Koehne was lower than slope cropping.The highest content of total secoiridoid glycoside in roots was found in the multiplecropping system mixed with Alnus nepalensis D. Don.The contents of four active components in G. rigescens from different plantingpatterns were determined, and HPLC fingerprints were developed. The results showedthat the sequence of four active components contents was gentiopicroside>swertiamarin> loganic acid> sweroside. The gentiopicroside contents in multiplecropping systems mixed with Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Ktze, A. nepalensis, Juglansregia, Eucalyptus robusta Smith, Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.,Lithocarpus xylocarpus (Kurz) Markg were higher than slope cropping, while thecontent in multiple cropping system mixed with C. sinensis was lower than slopecropping. The results of similarity analysis were in correspondence to the hierarchicalcluster analysis. Samples from different planting patterns were divided into three mainclusters. The samples in multiple cropping systems mixed with A. nepalensis, J. regiawere assigned into one group, which had the higher gentiopicroside contents, and thequality was better. Another group included the samples in multiple cropping systemsmixed with C. sinensis, E. robusta, C. lanceolata, L. xylocarpus. The samples fromslope cropping, multiple cropping system mixed with C. sinensis were divided intothe third class, the gentiopicroside contents was lower, but conformed to therequirements of the pharmacopoeia.Essential elements contents of G. rigescens from different multiple croppingsystems were determined. The results showed the highest content of P was found inmultiple cropping systems mixed with C. sinensis. The highest content of Mg wasfound in E. robusta cropping system. The highest contents of Fe and Ti were bothfound in A. nepalensis cropping system. In terms of heavy metals, significantdifferences of Cd and Cu contents in G. rigescens were found among different cropping systems, whereas no difference was observed for Pb contents. The contentsof Cd in slope cropping, multiple cropping mixed with A. nepalensis，and L.xylocarpus were higher than pharmacopoeia requirements. All the contents of Pbconformed to the requirement. The correlations of nine pairs elements reachedsignificant or highly significant level. Significant positive correlations were found forCa and Cd, Fe and Ti, Mg and Cu, Ti and Ni (P<0.05). Fe and Ni, Fe and Cd, Mn andSr, Ni and Cd had highly significant positive correlations (P<0.01). Ni and Pb showedsignificant negative correlation (P<0.05).