Metabolite profiling of angelica gigas from different geographical origins using ¹H NMR and UPLC-MS analyses

Angelica gigas obtained from different geographical regions was characterized using ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) followed by multivariate data analyses. Principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) score plots from ¹H NMR and UPLC-MS data sets showed a clear distinction among A. gigas from three different regions in Korea. The major metabolites that contributed to the discrimination factor were primary metabolites including acetate, choline, citrate, 1,3-dimethylurate, fumarate, glucose, histamine, lactose, malate, N-acetylglutamate, succinate, and valine and secondary metabolites including decursin, decursinol, nodakenin, marmesin, 7-hydroxy-6-(2R-hydroxy-3-methylbut-3-ethyl)coumarin in A. gigas roots. The results demonstrate that ¹H NMR and UPLC-MS-based metabolic profiling coupled with chemometric analysis can be used to discriminate the geographical origins of various herbal medicines and to identify primary and secondary metabolites responsible for discrimination.