eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 2022-03-23 10 3 242 249 10.12691/jfnr-10-3-10 JFNR202210310 article Metabonomics Approach in Studying the Difference of Lycii Cortex and Varieties with Similar Origin Donglai Ma 1 2 Xinrui Li 2 Meng Wu 2 Yuxin Jia 2 Yongxing Song songyongxing136@sina.com, 1538116759@qq.com, 21954749@qq.com 2 Ning Liu songyongxing136@sina.com, 1538116759@qq.com, 21954749@qq.com 3 Si Li songyongxing136@sina.com, 1538116759@qq.com, 21954749@qq.com 3 School of Pharmacy, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050200, China Hebei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, China The metabolites of Lycii cortex from L. chinense (CM), L. barbarum (BL), and the related species L. barbarum var. auranticarpum (BA) and L. ruthenicum Murr. (RM) were analysed to determine their quality differences in the metabonomic method. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to compare the metabolites in Lycii cortex of different origins. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis and cluster heat map analysis were used to identify the difference in metabolites, and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis was performed. The correlation between different metabolites and antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP) was analysed by the grey correlation degree method. The results showed that the Lycii cortex of different sources can be obviously distinguished, and the metabolite contents of BA, CM, and BL samples were similar, obtained 242 variables and 15 Differential metabolites (VIP > 1). Kukoamines were the most abundant and had higher contents in CM, BL, and BA samples, while the content was lower in RM samples. It was determined that the differential metabolites of the four varieties of Lycii cortex mainly came from tryptophan metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, isoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis, and phenylalanine metabolism with KEGG database. There was a significant correlation between the metabolites of Lycii cortex and antioxidant activity. The correlation coefficient between 103 metabolites and the antioxidant activity was > 0.90, and that between kukoamines was 0.98. Metabonomic is a reliable system biology approach for understanding the quality difference of Lycii cortex, and searching for new drug sources. http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/10/3/10/jfnr-10-3-10.pdf Lycii cortex ˇ¤UHPLC-Triple TOF-MS ˇ¤metabolomics KEGG pathway