Different medicinal parts of Angelica sinensis based on UHPLC-QE-MS non-targeted metabolomics differential metabolite analysis

In order to further distinguish the differences of compounds in different medicinal parts of Angelica (head, body and tail), our study used UHPLC-QE-MS combined with non-targeted metabolomics technology to identify the different compounds in different medicinal parts of Angelica. Principal component analysis (PCA) and OPLS-DA were used to screen the differential metabolites, and the related pathways were compared and analyzed. Eighteen types of 1 072 metabolites were identified from different medicinal parts of Angelica sinensis, mainly terpenoids, phenylpropanes, lipids and their derivatives, alkaloids, flavonoids, organic acids and their derivatives, etc. The comparison between Angelica head and Angelica body, Angelica head and Angelica tail, Angelica body and Angelica tail showed 530, 565, 474 different metabolites, among which kaempferol, cinnamic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, ligustilide, liquiritigenin, and rutin were mainly enriched in Angelica tail, naringin, apigenin were mainly enriched in Angelica body, estradiol, ligustrazine were mainly enriched in Angelica head; differential metabolites are concentrated in flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylalanine metabolism, indole alkaloid biosynthesis, tryptophan metabolism, flavonoid and flavonol biosynthesis and other pathways. In this study, UHPLC-QE-MS non-targeted metabolomics technology can effectively analyze the differential metabolites of different medicinal parts of Angelica sinensis, providing scientific support for clinical rational and accurate application of different medicinal parts of Angelica sinensis.