Metabolome Analysis on Four Important Secondary Metabolites in Roots, Stems, and Leaves of Portulaca oleracea L.

  Objective  Contents and interrelations of 4 important secondary metabolites in parts of a Portulaca oleracea L. plant were studied.

  Method  Metabolomics of P. oleracea root, stem, and leaf were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).

  Result  There were 3 categories of 43 alkaloids, 7 categories of 34 flavonoids, 2 categories of 16 lignans and coumarins, and 3 categories of 5 terpenoids identified in the metabolites. A heatmap analysis showed the relative contents of the 4 important secondary metabolites to be similar in the stems and leaves but different from what in the roots. The alkaloids content was higher in the roots and leaves, while the flavonoids in the stems. Whereas the contents of terpenoids, lignans, and coumarins were increasingly more abundant from the roots to the stems and the leaves.

  Conclusion  Same in kind, but significantly different in quantity, on the alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, lignans, and coumarins were found in the roots, stems, and leaves of a P. oleracea plant.