Study on the material basis and mechanism of Hemerocallis citrina Baroni on sleep-improvement using Drosophila activity monitoring, metabolomic, targeted screening and transcriptomic

Daylily (Hemerocallis citrina Baroni, HC) is an edible plant and is traditionally considered with potential to improve sleep. Herein, based on the Drosophila activity monitoring, metabolome, targeted screening and transcriptome, the material basis and mechanism of HC on sleep-improvement was investigated. The results showed that the aqueous extracts of HC (HAE) as well as the ethanol extracts (HEE) all prolonged the total sleep time of insomnia fruit flies, especially HEE-60 and HEE-95 exhibited more significant effects. In addition, 539 of 728 found metabolites were screened as potential sleep-improved metabolites, and quercetin, linoleic acid, phenethyl caffeate, L-methionine and & gamma;-aminobutyric acid were considered as core active metabolites. Meanwhile, 368 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were revealed by transcriptomics analysis, and the neuroactive ligandreceptor interaction was deduced as the main pathway by KEGG pathway enrichment. Furthermore, nine DEGs located in this pathway, namely betaTry, deltaTry, gammaTry, epsilonTry, etaTry, iotaTry, lambdaTry, kappaTry and CG30031 were proven being up-regulated. All these results contribute to the development of HCrelated functional foods.

Automated summary

The study investigated the material basis and mechanism of Daylily in improving sleep. The results showed that both aqueous and ethanol extracts of Daylily prolonged the total sleep time of insomnia fruit flies, with ethanol extracts having more significant effects. Quercetin, linoleic acid, phenethyl caffeate, L-methionine, and γ-aminobutyric acid were identified as core active metabolites. Transcriptomics analysis revealed 368 differentially expressed genes, with the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway being deduced as the main pathway. These findings contribute to the development of functional foods related to Daylily.