Discrimination of genuine and non‐genuine Magnolia officinalis leaves based on multi‐technique data fusion of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry, gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry, and chemometrics

Abstract

AbstractMagnolia officinalis has tremendous value in healthcare systems and has been widely used in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean for over a thousand years. M. officinalis is a kind of deciduous tree with large leaves, and the leaves give a high yield every year. Moreover, M. officinalis leaves have various pharmacological activities, such as anti‐inflammatory, anti‐bacterial, and anti‐oxidant. This research aimed to establish an accurate and efficient method to comprehensively analyze their chemical constituents and to compare the differences between genuine and non‐genuine M. officinalis leaves. Ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry were employed to identify the basic chemical compounds. An integration of chemometrics was initially developed to discriminate genuine and non‐genuine M. officinalis leaves. Thirty‐six non‐volatile components and thirty‐eight volatile oils were identified. Genuine samples exhibited higher quantities of six non‐volatile compounds and eight volatile oils of twenty‐two different components. Partial least squares discriminant analysis plots and heat map analysis highlighted the significant difference between genuine and non‐genuine samples. These comprehensive phytochemical investigations provide a theoretical reference for further research into or applications of genuine and non‐genuine M. officinalis leaves.