Metabolomics Approach for Understanding the Processing of Honeysuckle Flower (Lonicera japonica) in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Honeysuckle flower (Flos Lonicera japonica Thunb.) is one of the most commonly used herbs in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It is known as 'Jin Yin Hua' in TCM and used widely for treatment of affection by exopathogenic wind-heat or epidemic febrile diseases [1,2]. In tradtional Chinese medicine, Jin Yin Hua is classified with a temperature property of cold. For Jin Yin Hua, the cold designation specifically refers to its antitoxin, anti-bacterial, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory properties. The flower is notable for being used in varieties of traditional Chinese medicine herbal formulas to address what are called excess heat conditions such as fever, skin rashes, ulcers, and sore throat [3,4]. Two forms of Jin Yin Hua material are used in TCM, non-prepared and prepared, for different symptoms [4]. The prepared Jin Yin Hua is processed by means of frying. It is believed that the two forms of Jin Yin Hua material possess different properties and different therapeutic functions. As a matter of fact, many herbal medicinal materials are used in prepared forms (processed) in TCM, and the way to process is termed as „Pao Zhi“. Pao Zhi is one of the esoteric parts of TCM that requires scientific evidence to support its use and practice. In the present study, we used a metabolomics approach to investigate the difference between the chemical composition of non-prepared and prepared honeysuckle flowers.