Using untargeted metabolomics to profile the differences of the fruits of Lycium barbarum in different geographical origins

An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography system coupled with the Q-Exactive mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QE-MS) approach combined with multivariate statistical analysis was used to investigate the metabolic profiles of the fruits of Lycium barbarum in different geographical origins in China. Several classes of compounds such as sugars, amino acids, organic acids, fatty acids, polyphenols and alkaloid were identified in hydroalcoholic extracts, and ten differential metabolites including amino acids, organic acids and vitamins were identified by multivariate statistical method. It was discussed that the differences between organic acids and amino acids in the samples may be caused by environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation, soil and altitude. A total of 119 metabolic pathways were involved in the differential metabolites and 17 of them were retained for enrichment analysis. It was found that alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, purine metabolism, histidine metabolism and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis were the most important pathways. These findings play an important role in the origin tracing of the Lycium barbarum fruit.