Analysis and evaluation of nucleoside and nucleotide components in licorice from different origins
The traditional Chinese medicine licorice was first recorded in the “Shennong Bencao Jing” and is derived from the legume plant Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fish Swelling fruit licorice G Inflat Bat. or Light Fruit Licorice G The dry roots and rhizomes of Glabra L. are medicinal and edible products of the same origin. According to reports, over 90% of commercially available licorice medicinal materials are based on the original plant of licorice G uralensis Fishch.。 Modern pharmacological studies show that glycyrrhiza has antiviral, anti-inflammatory, liver protective, anti diabetes, anti-tumor and other activities. Chemical studies have shown that licorice mainly contains flavonoids, triterpenoids, phenylpropanoids, and polysaccharides. Currently, a total of 244 compounds have been isolated and obtained. The saying ‘all medicines have their own environment’ emphasizes the impact of ecological environment on the quality of medicinal materials. Based on this, studying the differences in chemical composition of medicinal materials in different habitats is of great significance for evaluating the quality of medicinal materials and ensuring their efficacy. Wild and cultivated licorice are subjected to different external environmental stresses. The preliminary research results of the research team showed that there are differences in the composition of large molecular substances such as starch and fiber, as well as flavonoids and triterpenoid saponins such as apisugar glycyrrhizin, apisugar isoglycyrrhizin, and glycyrrhetinic acid between the two. The research team reported that the chemical composition of licorice from different origins can be distinguished based on non target metabolomics combined with chemometrics. Nucleosides are essential substances in life, an important component of cells, and the core of metabolism. Nucleoside like drugs play a crucial role in human health, as these small molecule drugs participate in enzyme interactions during DNA or RNA replication in the lifecycle of viruses or cancer cells, making them useful for antiviral, anticancer, antibacterial, and other purposes. A comprehensive analysis of nucleoside components in plant extracts is an effective way to study nucleosides in plants. However, there is currently a lack of research on the nucleoside and base components in licorice, and there have been no reports on whether there are differences in nucleoside and base components in licorice from different regions that affect its therapeutic effect.
This study used UPLC-TQ/MS to determine the content of nucleoside and base components in licorice from different regions. Based on the content data, principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were used to analyze the differences in licorice from different regions, laying the foundation for its rational development and utilization.

The quality of traditional Chinese medicine is the foundation for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of clinical medication. In addition to genetic factors, environmental and human factors can also cause quality differences. The proposal of the theory of adverse effects on the formation of authentic medicinal herbs indicates the impact of environmental stress on the quality of medicinal herbs. Different regions of medicinal herbs are affected by different environmental factors, which in turn affect their quality. As previous studies have shown, there are differences in the quality of medicinal herbs such as half lotus, tangerine peel, and white peony from different regions. The preliminary research results of the research group indicate that there are differences in secondary metabolites such as flavonoids and triterpenoids in licorice from different regions. However, current research on the quality differences of medicinal herbs from different origins mostly focuses on secondary metabolites, with relatively few reports on their primary metabolites, such as amino acids, nucleosides, bases, and other components. This study is based on the study of nucleosides and bases in primary metabolites of licorice from different regions. The research results show that the content of nucleosides and bases in licorice from different regions is 31.84-37.83m/100g, which is similar to that in goji berries, lower than the total content of nucleosides and bases in chrysanthemum (61.13-555.45mg/100g), but higher than the total content of nucleosides and bases in Poria cocos (6.23-10.28mg/100g). It can be seen that the content of nucleosides and bases in licorice is at a moderate level among medicinal and edible Chinese medicinal materials. The PLS-DA discrimination results based on four samples from different production areas showed that the samples from Ningxia and Inner Mongolia were clustered into one category, while the samples from Gansu and Xinjiang were clustered into another category. Analyzing the possible reasons for this, the licorice production area has undergone changes from Gansu and other places to Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and other places, and judging from geographical location, the main production areas of licorice in Gansu and Xinjiang are relatively close in geographical location, while Inner Mongolia and Ningxia are relatively close in geographical location. The environmental factors, production and processing of production areas with similar geographical locations are also similar, which promotes the consistency of the quality characteristics of medicinal materials. Further PLS-DA discriminant analysis results showed that samples from Gansu and Xinjiang can be distinguished, which may be due to differences in terrain, geomorphology, frost free periods, and other aspects of their main production areas, although both belong to continental climates, leading to differences in the accumulation of chemical components in medicinal materials. The main differential components between different regions are Gua, Ade, Uri, Cytd, and Guad, among which Gua can act as a factor connecting growth and cellular energy status by controlling gene transcription; Ade plays an important role in immune and inflammatory responses; Uri and Guad, as regulatory molecules of the central nervous system, can regulate different physiological and pathological processes in the brain; From this, it can be seen that the above differential components have certain physiological and pharmacological activities, and the differences in their component content may lead to differences in activity, thereby affecting their efficient and rational utilization.
This study used UPLC-TQ/MS to determine the content of 12 nucleosides and bases in licorice from different regions. The research results showed that there were significant differences in the total content of nucleosides and bases in licorice from different origins (P<0.05), and based on the determined nucleoside and base content, PLS-DA discriminant analysis could be used to classify licorice samples into different origins. Among them, licorice from Ningxia and Inner Mongolia had the most similar nucleoside and base components, and the main differential components among different origins were Gua, Ade, Uri, Cytd, and Guad. The research results provide theoretical support for revealing the differences in the quality of licorice from different regions, laying the foundation for its rational development and utilization.