Wild Chinese prickly ash resources provide a valuable genetic resource for Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim improvement and breeding. The Qinling Mountains was an abundant source for wild Chinese prickly ash. In this study, the phenolic and flavonoid compounds of wild germplasm resources from different altitudes and six cultivated varieties were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The chromatograms of them were essentially consistent, although their chemical composition contents were greatly different. The thirty samples were divided into three categories through the hierarchical clustering analysis. Catechin, hyperoside and quercitrin were considered to be key compounds for the quality evaluation, and by contrast, the wild samples with an altitude of 2300±50 m (Group IV) had the highest content of key compounds, and presented stronger antioxidant activity and antibacterial ability, indicating that these wild samples could be identified as the excellent breeding resources. This is the first time to evaluate the quality of wild Chinese prickly ash at different altitudes in Qinling Mountains. These excellent wild germplasm resources provided substantial potential accessions for use directly in Chinese prickly ash breeding programs.
Keywords: HPLC fingerprint; Qinling mountains; Wild Chinese prickly ashes (Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim); flavonoids.
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