Bulletin of Botanical Research ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 518-532.doi: 10.7525/j.issn.1673-5102.2025.04.005

• Original Paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Environmental Factors on the Active Ingredients of Codonopsis pilosula

Hao GUO1,2, Caixia CHEN2, Xiaojing AN1,2, Xian’en LI2, Haiying WANG1(), Zhongting XIA3()   

  1. 1.School of Chinese Materia Medica,Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Tianjin 301617
    2.Institute of Medicinal Plant Development,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College,Beijing 100193
    3.Yingkerui(Tianjin) Innovative Medicine Research Co. ,Ltd. ,Tianjin 300382
  • Received:2025-02-05 Online:2025-07-20 Published:2025-07-25
  • Contact: Haiying WANG, Zhongting XIA E-mail:haiyingwang-99@163.com;Hexinshang-1@hotmail.com

Abstract:

To clarify the key factors affecting the content of active ingredients in Codonopsis pilosula, and to provide scientific basis for the selection of producing areas’ environmental factors for standardized cultivation, the effects of 32 environmental factors such as meteorology and soil conditions in different producing areas were explored. In this study, samples of cultivated C. pilosula and its root zone soil were collected from a total of 27 sampling sites in the main producing areas(Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Shanxi). The soil physicochemical indicators from different producing areas and the contents of lobetyolin and polysaccharides in C. pilosula weremeasured, and the correlations between various environmental factors and the active ingredients in C. pilosula were analyzed. The results indicated that there were regional differences in the content of active ingredients in C. pilosula. The highest polysaccharide content was 386 mg⋅g-1 in samples collected from Ar Horqin Banner in Chifeng city. The highest lobetyolin content was 2.128 mg⋅g-1 in samples collected from Wuxi in Chongqing city. Among the factors contributing to the variance in the content of active ingredients in C. pilosula from different producing areas, monthly extreme temperature had the highest contribution, followed by soil enzyme activity and organic matter factors, with soil nutrients contributing the least. The effects of different environmental factors on accumulation of polysaccharides and lobetyolin in C. pilosula varied in different producing areas. Polysaccharides contents in C. pilosula were mainly influenced by soil organic matter, precipitation in October, and soil alkaline phosphatase activity, while lobetyolin was primarily affected by soil available nitrogen, soil acid phosphatase activity, the minimum temperature in May and July-August, and soil pH. In summary, monthly extreme temperature was the main factor driving the variation in content of active ingredients in C. pilosula, and attention should be paid to the impacts of precipitation, soil nutrients, and phosphatase activity.

Key words: Codonopsis pilosula, active ingredients, environmental factors, random forest model, correlation analysis

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