Dynamic variations of bioactive compounds driven by enzymes in Psoralea corylifolia L. from growth to storage and processing

Fructus Psoraleae (FP), the dried ripe fruit of Psoralea corylifolia L., is a popular herbal medicine commonly applied for alleviating osteoporosis and vitiligo. But, until now, the dynamic variations of compounds in P. corylifolia have been less investigated during its growth, storage, and treatment by different temperatures, which is meaningful for guaranteeing the quality of FP. In this study, focused on these questions, with emphasis on the enzyme-driven dynamic transformation of coumarins, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detector (UHPLC-PDA) method was successfully established for the simultaneous determination of nine compounds. The distribution and accumulation of compounds were discussed and illuminated in different parts of P. corylifolia and samples harvested at different times. The characteristics of compounds' variation in flowers and fruits of P. corylifolia were identified. Through the market survey and quantitative study on FP, positive correlation was speculated between transformation from (iso)psoralenoside to (iso)psoralen viab-glucosidase and storage time, which was further confirmed by accelerated stability test. The effect of treated temperatures (40-210 degrees C) was unveiled on the enzyme activity and transformation from (iso)psoralenoside to (iso)psoralen in FP. And the focused compounds' transformation was mainly driven byb-glucosidase when the temperature was below 120 degrees C. Above 120 degrees C,b-glucosidase was completely inactivated, and the focused compounds' transformation was mediated by high-temperature, also the obvious degradation was found. Our results demonstrated that compounds' transformation characteristics arising from the growth, processing and storage of P. corylifolia are critical factors to ensure the quality of FP. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study focused on the dynamic variations of compounds in Psoralea corylifolia during its growth, storage, and treatment by different temperatures. It successfully established a method for the simultaneous determination of nine compounds and identified the characteristics of compounds' variation in different parts of the plant. The results demonstrated that compounds' transformation arising from the growth, processing, and storage of Psoralea corylifolia are critical factors to ensure the quality of Fructus Psoraleae.