Botanical origin of Mei-gui Hua in Chinese markets

AbstractThe petals or buds ofRosa species have been used as an important Chinese crude drug called “Mei-gui Hua” and also an ingredient for herbal tea in China. The 15 flavonol glycosides in 34 commercially available “Mei-gui Hua” were quantitatively determined by UPLC, and the data were compared with those of knownRosa sp. belong toCinnamomeae,Gallicanae,Caninae andSynstylae by principal component analysis for the estimation of original plants of these “Mei-gui Hua”. Seven samples were classified into two groups (Types A and B) composed of species inGallicae andSynstilae and 11 samples into a group (Type D) composed of species inCinnamomeae. Six samples were plotted among Types B, C and D. However, nine samples were shown to form a new group (Type F), and the original plants of these samples were assumed to be more complex hybrids ofRosa species including other sections thanCinnamomeae,Gallicanae,Caninae andSynstylae. This method must be useful and convenient to estimate the origin of crude drug “Mei-gui Hua” commercially available in markets. The results of this study also demonstrated that “Mei-gui Hua” commercially available in Chinese market must be prepared from hybrids of various species ofRosa, and it is not reasonable to assign onlyR. rugosa as scientific name of the origin plants.
Source: Journal of Natural Medicines - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research