VARIATION AND REGULARITY OF COUMARIN CONSTITUENTS IN FRUCTUS CNIDII COLLECTED FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS OF CHINA

AIM: To find out the variation and regularity of coumarin constituents in Fructus Cnidii collected from different regions of China. METHODS: Capillary GC was applied to determine the contents of osthol, bergapten, isopimpinellin, xanthotoxin, imperatorin, O-acetylcolumbianetin, columbianadin, cniforin A and edultin in the ethanol extracts of Fructus Cnidii of 59 samples collected from 48 populations of different geographical origins. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results indicated that intra specific variation of coumarins in Cnidium monnieri fruits is related to the geographical distribution of the plants in China and the plant can be classified into three chemotypes: Chemotype 1: containing osthol as the main component and linear furanocoumarins, but no angular furanocoumarins, distributed in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu Provinces etc. in South China. Chemotype 2: containing no osthol but angular furanocoumarins as the main constituents, distributed in Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, etc. in Northeast China. Chemotype 3: an intermediate type, with the osthol content roughly inversely proportional to the angular furanocoumarins, distributed in Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong Provinces, etc. in a belt of transition between South and North China.