Nutrient composition and functional constituents of daylily from different producing areas based on widely targeted metabolomics

Daylily is a functional food with high nutritional value in China. Datong (DT) in Shanxi Province is one of the four main production areas of daylily. Therefore, Linfen (LF), Lvliang (LL), and Yangquan (YQ) in Shanxi Province have also introduced daylily from DT. However, geographical and climatic conditions and producing patterns cause variations in the vegetable quality. In the present study, we found that the nutrient composition of daylilies from different producing areas varied. The key environmental factors affecting the nutrition of daylily in different regions were altitude and temperature. The widely targeted metabolomics results showed that 1642 metabolites were found in daylily. The differential metabolites between DT and YQ, LL and LF were 557, 667, and 359, respectively. Notably, 9 metabolic pathways and 76 metabolite markers were associated with daylily from different areas. This study provides a theoretical basis for the quality maintenance and health efficacy research of daylily.