Species Classify of Fritillaria by NMR Fingerprint Analysis

Bulbus Fritillariae (BF), Beimu in Chinese, derived from the bulbs of several Fritillaria species (family Lillliaceae), has been used as an antitussive and expectorant herb in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2000 years [1]. In the 2005 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia, five kinds of Beimu (of nine Fritillaria species), namely Zhe-Beimu (F. thunbergii Miq.), Chuan-Beimu (F. cirrhosa D. Don, F. unibracteata Hsiao et K.C. Hsia, F. prezewalskii Maxim. and F. delavayi Franch.), Ping-Beimu (F. ussuriensis Maxim.), Hubei-Beimu (F. hupehensis Hsiao et K. C. Hsia) and Yi-Beimu (F. walujewii Regel and F. pallidiflora Schrenk) were officially recorded [2]. In addition to this, the bulbs of more than 30 other species were utilized locally as substitutes for BF in some areas of China [3]. Due to the complexity of botanical origin and the remarkable difference of the prices for different BF, there is a crucial need to develop effective methods for the discrimination, authentication, and quality analysis of different BF. In the present study, we report the investigation of the bulbs of 9 Fritillaria species (24 specimens), which were collected from wild, cultivated or commercial sources in China, by using NMR-based metabolomic analysis.

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Acknowledgments: We thank Dr. Li Ping from Chinese Pharmaceutical Univesity for the assistance in collecting BF samples. This research is supported in part by „Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements“ and „Botanical Dietary Supplement Research“ funded by the Food and Drug Administration grant numbers 5U01FD002071–09 and 1U01FD003871–01, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58–6408–2-0009. References: [1] Chinese Herbs Editor. Zhonghua Bencao (in Chinese). Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Press (1999): p.7169. [2] Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission, Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, Vol I, 2005 edition, Chemical Industry Press, Beijing: P.25,65,95,205,242. [3] Xiao PG, Yan J, et al. (2007) Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 45: 473–487.