Analysis of the differential compounds in Astragalus membranaceus from different geographical origins by UFLC-IT-TOF/MS

To uncover the differences in material basis of Astragalus membranaceus from different origins, ultra-fast liquid chromatography-ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UFLC-IT-TOF/MS)was applied to characterize chemical features of 15 batches of water decoction of Astragalus membranaceus from Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Pattern recognition and statistical analysis were performed using partial least squares-discriminant analysis(PLS-DA)and(non)parametric tests, respectively. The differential compounds with variable importance in projection(VIP)> 1, adjusted P< 0. 05, and fold change(FC)> 1. 5 were screened out and further identified. It was found that 7 different substances such as calycosin, formononetin and linoleic acid could be used as quality markers to distinguish the origin of Astragalus membranaceus. Our findings provided new potential quality markers for the accurate differentiation of geographical origins of Astragalus membranaceus as well as its comprehensive quality control.