Exploring the processing-related components from asparagi radix via diversified spectrum-effect relationship

Asparagi radix (AR) is a widely used in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). It is well-known for the antiaging effect, but the responsible for effective components from AR remained unknown. Herein, this study aimed to establish a seemly screening method for antioxidant activity components from AR. After optimizing the process parameter of AR, the best processing method was determined and 25 decoction pieces of AR (DPAR) with different processing technology and antioxidant activities was taken for subsequent experiments. Further, facing to the diversified compounds from AR, photodiode array (PDA) detector and charged aerosol detector (CAD) equipped in HPLC were integrated to screen the specific antioxidant compounds through spectrum-effect relationship, and the mostly correlation components with antioxidant activity were partially identified by the UPLC-Q/TOF-MS analysis. The results showed that the antioxidant effect from AR was due to the synergistic effect of multiple compounds mainly including five furostanol glycosides, citric acid and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde. Collectively, establishing diversified analysis model of spectrum-effect relationship provided a broadly applicable strategy for accurately screening the bioactive substances and quality evaluation of AR.