Food Chemistry: X (Mar 2023)

Variations in the morphological and chemical composition of the rhizomes of Polygonatum species based on a common garden experiment

  • Shuhui Liao,
  • Zhiwei Fan,
  • Xiujing Huang,
  • Yuru Ma,
  • Fangyan Huang,
  • Yuntao Guo,
  • Tianqi Chen,
  • Pan Wang,
  • Zilin Chen,
  • Meisen Yang,
  • Tongguang Yang,
  • Jianqiu Xie,
  • Jinping Si,
  • Jingjing Liu

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17
p. 100585

Abstract

Read online

Polygonatum species have great potential in fighting chronic and hidden hunger. In this study, five Polygonatum species collected from different populations were cultivated in a common garden for 4 years. The species mainly differed in yield, saponin and polysaccharide contents, stem diameter, leaf width, inflorescence length, and floret inflorescence length. P. cyrtonema (PC) provides high-quality yield when planted in Zhejiang, with output as high as 7.5 tons per hectare and a promising breeding potential. Moreover, stem diameter can be used as an indicator of the harvest in the screening of varieties. In addition, the formation of plant genetic traits from different provenances is affected by the climatic factors of the origin. Furthermore, near-infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics for polysaccharide and saponin quantitation provides a rapid assessment of PC quality. Our findings provide a scientific basis for the development and sustainable utilization of PC as a high-yielding and high-quality forest crop.

Keywords