人参皂苷与生态因子的相关性

环境条件影响中药材活性成分的形成和积累.利用各种数学统计分析方法探讨影响人参皂苷积累的生态因子,提高人参品质.人参样品采自人参道地产区(主产区)吉林、辽宁、黑龙江三省5年生栽培人参,同时采集采样点处的土壤样品.超高效液相(UPLC)色谱法分析了不同产区9种人参皂苷(Rg1、Re、Rf、Rg2、Rb1、Rc、Rb2、Rb3、Rd)的含量；利用“中药材产地适宜性分析地理信息系统”的生态因子空间数据库,获得采样区包括温度、水分、光照等10个生态因子数据；按土壤理化性质常规方法测定土壤样品中的有效硼、有效铁等微量元素和速效氮、速效钾等有效养分.对人参有效成分含量与土壤养分进行典型相关性分析发现,土壤中的有效硼、有效铁、速效氮与人参皂苷含量呈显著正相关,即适当提高土壤中有效硼、有效铁和速效氮的含量可以促进人参皂苷成分的积累,土壤水分与所测人参皂苷含量(Rb3除外)呈显著正相关,速效磷(P)、pH、速效锌(Zn)与各人参皂苷含量呈弱相关；人参皂苷与气候因子相关分析表明,温度(年活动积温、年平均气温、7月最高气温、7月平均气温、1月最低气温、1月平均气温)与人参皂苷含量呈显著负相关,其中与药典中人参含量测定项下的人参皂苷Rg1、Re、Rb1负相关尤为显著(r＞0.6),说明在一定温度范围内,人参皂苷是随着温度的降低而升高的,即适当低温有利于人参皂苷有效成分的积累；海拔与人参皂苷Rc、Rb2、Rb3含量呈显著正相关(r＞0.6),即相对较高的海拔可以促进这3种成分的积累；而年均降水量、年相对湿度和年均日照时数与人参皂苷相关不显著.通过主成分分析(PCA)、典型相关分析、排序等统计方法,考察不同产地样品中人参皂苷含量与生态因子间的相关性,研究结果揭示了温度在人参的主要活性成分-皂苷类形成中起决定性作用,在一定的温度范围内,温度越低越有利于人参皂苷的积累；阐明了土壤中的有效硼、有效铁、速效氮与人参皂苷含量成正相关.研究结果提示在人参实践生产中可以通过适当低温处理,增施硼、铁、氮肥等农艺措施来调控人参皂苷含量.

Correlation between ecological factors and ginsenosides

Environmental conditions affect the distribution and quality of Chinese herbal medicines. Specific ecological conditions influence the formation and accumulation of the active ingredient of these medicines, therefore an appropriate ecological environment is a prerequisite for production of high-quality genuine medicinal materials. Ginseng is a valuable Chinese herbal medicine. Ginsenoside content is the main indicator used for evaluation of ginseng quality. This study aimed to explore the impact of ecological factors on ginsenoside accumulation to enhance the quality of ginseng. The data was analyzed with multiple statistical analytic methods. Root samples were collected from five-year-old cultivated panax ginseng plants in the major genuine (Daodi) ginseng-producing areas of Jilin, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang provinces, China. Soil samples from the sampling sites were collected. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography was used to analyze the contents of nine ginsenosides (Rg1, Re, Rf, Rg2, Rb1, Rc, Rb2, Rb3, and Rd). Data for 10 ecological factors, including temperature, moisture, and sunlight, were obtained from the ecological database of Geographic Information System for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Effective boron, effective iron and other trace elements as well as available nitrogen, available potassium and other soil nutrients were determined by conventional soil physicochemical property assay methods. Canonical correlation analysis between ginsenosides contents and soil nutrients showed that soil available boron, effective iron, and available nitrogen were significantly positively related to ginsenosides contents. Thus, increased quantities of soil available boron, effective iron and available nitrogen could promote the accumulation of ginsenosides. In addition, a significant positive correlation existed between soil moisture and ginsenosides contents (Rb3 excluded), and a weak correlation was obtained between available phosphorus, pH, quick zinc and ginsenosides contents. The correlation between ginsenosides contents and climatic factors (annual active accumulated temperature, annual mean temperature, July maximum temperature, July mean temperature, January minimum temperature, and January mean temperature) was strongly negative in this study. In particular, there existed a significant negative correlation (r>0.6) between climatic factors and the ginsenosides Rg1, Re and Rb1, which were specified in the pharmacopoeia. These results implied that ginsenosides contents increased with decreasing temperature within a certain temperature range; an appropriate low temperature was conducive to the accumulation of the ginsenosides, and elevation was significantly positively related to the contents of Rc, Rb2, and Rb3 (r>0.6). In other words, a relatively high elevation could promote the accumulation of these three components. However, the results showed average annual precipitation, relative humidity, annual average sunshine hours were not significantly correlated with ginsenosides contents in this study. In conclusion, principal component analysis, canonical correlation analysis and ordination were applied to investigate the correlation between ecological factors and ginsenosides contents of cultivated ginseng collected from three ginseng-producing areas. The results indicated temperature factors play a decisive role in the accumulation of ginsenosides. Within a certain temperature range, the lower the temperature the more beneficial was the accumulation of ginsenosides; in addition, the levels of available boron, effective iron and available nitrogen in the soil were positively correlated to ginsenosides contents. These results indicated an appropriate low temperature and enhancement of boron, iron, and nitrogen in the soil could improve the ginsenosides contents in cultivated ginseng.