Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Biol Chem. Sep 5, 2025; 16(3): 105875
Published online Sep 5, 2025. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v16.i3.105875
Chemical composition differences in wild Gardenia jasminoides fruits across provenances using metabolomics
Wen-Yi Bi, Wen-Lin He, Wei Wang, Xin-Ruo Wang, Zhi-Jun Zhou, Yan-Ling Zeng
Wen-Yi Bi, Wen-Lin He, Wei Wang, Xin-Ruo Wang, Zhi-Jun Zhou, Yan-Ling Zeng, Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, Hunan Province, China
Co-first authors: Wen-Yi Bi and Wen-Lin He.
Author contributions: Bi WY, He WL played important and indispensable roles in the experimental design, statistical analysis and drafting the manuscript; Wang W, Wang XR, Zhou ZJ contributed to sample collection; Zeng YL contributed to conceptualization, reviewing and editing the manuscript, and financial support.
Supported by The Forestry Science and Technology Innovation Funded Project of Hunan Forestry Bureau, No. XLKY202221.
Institutional review board statement: This study did not involve human or animal subjects, and thus, no ethical approval was required.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author, 66064405@qq.com.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yan-Ling Zeng, Professor, Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, No. 498 Shaoshan South Road, Changsha 410004, Hunan Province, China. zengyanling110@csuft.edu.cn
Received: February 12, 2025
Revised: April 20, 2025
Accepted: June 25, 2025
Published online: September 5, 2025
Processing time: 201 Days and 22 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Fruits of Gardenia jasminoides (G. jasminoides) have extremely high medicinal value. However, the quality and traits of the plants vary significantly based on their provenances. In addition, the behaviour of the known bioactive components, such as geniposide and crocin, has been the primary focus of the research on G. jasminoides. However, the identification of unknown bioactive components and their metabolomics remains underexplored. Therefore, analysing the metabolic differences between gardenias from different sources is essential to provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for the evaluation of G. jasminoides and germplasm resource identification.

AIM

To systematically evaluate the morphology, secondary metabolites, typical active ingredients, and antioxidant activity of wild G. jasminoides fruits.

METHODS

Gardenia fruits were collected from different provenances. Metabolites were identified via ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The metabolic differences were compared using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The antioxidant capacity was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assays and ferric reducing antioxidant power assays, and its correlation with typical active ingredients was analysed.

RESULTS

A total of 444 and 240 metabolites were identified using UPLC-MS/MS in positive and negative ion modes, respectively. The HCA results of the flavonoids indicated that the higher content of flavonoids was in the fruits from Lukou. The differential analysis of metabolites in fruits from Shaoyang, Miluo and Lukou showed that the fruit from Miluo had the highest upregulated differential metabolites.

CONCLUSION

The metabolic characteristics of the Ningxiang and Xiangxi extracts were similar, while those of Lukou, Miluo and Shaoyang extracts differed significantly.

Keywords: Gardenia jasminoides fruit; Antioxida Gardenia jasminoides fruit; Antioxidant activity; Chemical composition; Metabolomics; Differential substances

Core Tip: This study investigated the metabolomic profiles of wild Gardenia jasminoides (G. jasminoides) fruits from five regions in the Hunan Province, China, using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, and further analysed the relationship between the typical active ingredients and antioxidant activity. Contrary to conventional assumptions, chlorogenic acid exhibited a significant negative correlation to ferric reducing antioxidant power, indicating that the antioxidant capacity depends on synergistic interactions of multiple components. The fruits from Miluo demonstrated upregulated bioactive metabolites, while those from Lukou exhibited a higher flavonoid content. The findings of this research provide deeper insights into the bioactive components of G. jasminoides.