Differentiation of Schisandra chinensis and Schisandra sphenanthera using metabolite profiles based on UPLC-MS and GC-MS

Historically, Schisandra chinensis and S. sphenanthera have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Although both species are in the genus Schisandra, they have dissimilar therapeutic effects that may be attributed to compositional differences in secondary metabolites. We developed a method to compare these metabolites obtained from the above plant species using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry coupled with multivariate statistical analyses. The critical markers we used to discriminate between both plant species resulted in the identification and quantification of six lignans and seven essential oils. We believe that our approach provided a sensitive, reliable and robust method to conveniently classify medicinal plants that can be used to explore subtle variations among different species or plants from different geographical locations.