Revealing the chemical differences and their application on geographical origin and aging year identification of Artemisia Argyi Folium based on GC–MS and UHPLC-HRMS untargeted metabolomics

Artemisiae Argyi Folium (AAF) is a medicinal and edible herb whose quality is dependent on its geographical origin and aging years. This study employed untargeted metabolomics based on GC–MS and UHPLC-HRMS to identify its geographical origin and aging years. First, we employed our proprietary AntDAS platform to fully analyze the mass spectrometry data and screen for key differential metabolites. Analysis identified 58 geographical origin-related metabolites (35 non-volatile and 23 volatile). Notably, the chemical profiles of the two Dao-di production regions differed markedly. Samples from Nanyang (Henan) were characterized by high abundances of endo -borneol, terpinen-4-ol, eucalyptol, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, phellopterin, and quercetin, whereas these compounds were found in low abundance in samples from the other Dao-di production region, Qichun (Hubei). Furthermore, 27 metabolites with aging-year differences were identified, comprising 18 non-volatile and 9 volatile compounds, and the aged AAF compared to fresh AAF showed significantly enriched chemical components. Regarding the aging effect, the contents of eucalyptol and 5-methyl-decane were highest in the 5-year samples. Endo -borneol showed higher levels in both 1-year and 5-year samples, with its content in 3-year samples being intermediate. In contrast, n-hexadecanoic acid and phytol were more abundant in samples aged for over 5 years. Finally, using these differential metabolites, OPLS-DA models achieved 100.0% accuracy in geographical origin classification and over 94.4% accuracy for aging year discrimination. This study provides a chemical basis for the geographical origin traceability and aging year identification of food-drug homologous products.