全 文 ：广 西 植 物 Guihaia 28(5)：661— 670 2008年 9月
and the total ginsenoside content of the root
tuber of Panax notoginseng
ZHAO Chang-Ling1 ，WANG Ying ，DUAN Cheng-Li ，
CHEN Zhong-Jiana，XIAO Feng-Hui ，
(1．Colege of Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology，Yunnan Agricultural University，Kunming 650201，China
2．Institute of Chinese Traditional Medicine Materials，Yunnan Agricultural University，Kunming 650201，
China；3．Institute of Natural Products，Wenshan Sanqi Research Institute，Wenshan 663000，China)
Abstract：Panax notoginseng is“the first medicinal material”in Yunnan of China and P．notoginseng produced in the
W enshan eparchy of Yunnan is the Genuine M edicinal Material of P．notoginseng．The transverse sections of the root
tubers of P．notoginseng range from yelowish white to purple．The root tubers with pure purple occupy about
28．21 of the root tubers researched，and their pericycles，endodermises，eortexes or epidermises are purple．Specific
color reactions and UV-vis spectra indicated that the purple pigment of the root tuber of P．notoginseng belongs to
flavonoids，probably holding phenolic o-dihydroxyls，excluding carotenoids，chalcones，aurones，isoflavones and care—
chins．Anthocyanins and／or their aglycones，namely anthocyanidins，underlay the pigmentation of the purple root tu—
ber and other non-red flavonoids function as co-pigments．The average anthocyanin content and the average total gin—
senoside content of the root tubers with pure purple are al the highest，next are those of the root tubers with farragi—
nous color of yellow and purple，and the lowest are those of the root tubers with pure yellow，which is consistent with
the changing trend of the color hues of the different root tubers．The diference of anthocyanin contents of the root
tubers with different colors reaches the most significant level，but the difference of anthocyanin contents does not
reach the significant leve1．Every root tuber contains anthocyanins of different quantity，and along with increase of the
anthocyanin content，the purple of the root color basically becomes more and more obvious gradualy．The anthocya—
nin content of the root tuber is positively related with the total girisenoside content at the significant level and the cot—
relation coefficient(r)is 0．355．This paper can provide a reference for the exploration on the mechanism of the tuber
coloration and the identification of the molecular structures of the tuber pigments of P．notoginseng．
Key words：Panax notoginseng；purple pigment of root tuber；anthocyanin essence；total ginsenoside content；posi—
tivP correl ation
CLC Number：Q946．83 Document Code：A Article ID：1000—3142(2008)05—0661-10
Belonging to the herb plant of Panax genus of
Araliaceae family，Panax notoginseng is one of the rare
Chinese medicinal materials．It is usually named“the
supernatural herb of south China”，and is the main in—
Received date．2007—。01—。29 Accepted date：2007’ 04 ’29
Foundation item：Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(30260057)}the Startup Fund for Doctor of Yunnan Agri—
cultural University(A2002096／0630)
Biography：ZHAO Chang-I ing(1969一)，Male，Born in D@angyan City of Sichuan Province，Doctor of Science，Associate Professor，working in
Plant physiology，Phytoehemistry and Plant biochemistry and molecular biology．
Author for corresDondence
662 广 西 植 物 28卷
gredient of the world-famous“Yunnan Baiyao”．Mod—
ern iatrical practice has proved that P．notoginseng is
provided with the remedia1 functions of different de—
grees to the diseases of the cordis and cerebral vascu—
lar，neural and immune systems，etc，and with the phar—
macological activities of anti-inflammation，anti-senes—
cence and anti—tumour(Zheng & Yang，1999；Hu，
2000；He，2004)．The usage history of P．notoginseng
in China and abroad has been more than 600 years，but
its cultivating history is only about 400 years(Hu，
2000；He，2004；Cui，et a1．，2005)．
Belonging to the sub—tropic and alpine shade plant
with a limited ecological scope，P．notoginseng distrib—
utes mostly in the regions wi th the altitudes from 1 200
to 2 000 m which are located between Yunnan and
Guangxi Province of China，and in the neighborhood of
the Tropic of cancer．The most concentrative produ—
cing region is the W enshan County，Yanshan Co unty
and Maguan Co unty of the W enshan Eparchy of Yun—
nan Province．The annual output of the root tuber of
P．notoginseng in the Wenshan eparchy is approximate
4 000 000 kg，occupying 98％ of the total output of
China．Furthermore，the quality of P．notoginseng in
this eparchy is also the best in China，resulting in the
fact that P．notoginseng is“the first medicinal material’
in Yunnan and P．notoginseng produced in the W ens—
han eparchy is the Genuine Medicinal Material of P．
咒D 0g e g(Cui，et a1．，2005)． In Yunnan province，
P．notoginseng in the W enshan eparchy is the first Chi—
nese medicinal material which has been authenticated
by the Good Agricultural Practice(GAP)of China
(Zhang，2003)．In 1995，the Wenshan eparchy was of—
ficially denominated “the village of P．notoginseng of
China”．The base-constructing of P．notoginseng in the
W enshan eparchy is being carried out according to the
Standard Operation Procedure(SOP)of GAP(Wang，et
a1．，2002；Jin，et a1．，2006)，and the demonstrating
base of P．notoginseng has been established more than
2 000 hm2，presumedly occupying the 30％of the total
planting area in the eparchy(Yu，2OO5)．It is forecasted
that，in 2015，the income produced by P．notoginseng in
the W enshan eparchy will reach 10 000 millions yuan
(Huang，2003)．
The root tuber is the primary medicinal part of P．
notoginseng．Although the root tuber is usually yellow
or yellowish white，a mi nority of root tubers have been
found to be purple．Chen et a1．(2001)and Sun et a1．
(2OO3)classmed the root tubers of P．notoginseng into
two categories，namely the green and the purple．The
section of the former is green or yellowish green when
the root tuber is fresh，and changes to dark green when
the root tuber is dried．The section and the peel of the
later are purple when the root tuber is fresh，when the
root tuber is dried，the peel becomes faint purple，and
the section becomes dark purple． Moreover，Chen
a1．(2001)found that the purple root tuber is provided
with 8 plentiful of red purple substance which the
green root tuber does not almost hold，and the medici—
nal quality of the purple root tuber is better than that
of the green root tuber．It is because ginsenoside has
been thought to be the main pharmacological incompo—
nent of P．notoginseng(Dong et a1．，2003；Zhang，et
a1．，2003)，and the total ginsenoside content of the
purple root tuber is 48．52％ higher than that of the
green root tuber(Chen et a1．，2001)．
However，heretofore，the phytochemical essence of
the purple pigment of the root tuber of P．notoginseng
has not been reported． The relationship between the
purple pigment and the total ginsenoside content has
not been exploited either．It is well known that the
weak ecological adaptability of P．notoginseng results
directly in the cabined geographical distribution．Re—
searches on the purple pigment of the root tuber can
not only reveal profoundly and completely the pharma～
cological activities of P．notoginseng，but also produce
probably new insight into the ecological adaptability of
P．notoginseng，which is of great significance to the in—
dustrialization development of P．notoginseng．
For the first time，this paper dealt with the phyto—
chemical essence of the purple pigment of the root tu—
ber and the probable correlation of the pigment content
and the total ginsenoside content of the root tuber of
P．notoginseng，providing a reference for the explora—
tion on the mechanism of the root tuber pigmentation
and on the integrated pharmacological activities of P．
notoginseng．
5期 赵昶灵等：三七块根紫色素的花色苷本质及其含量和总皂苷含量的正相关性 663
1 Materials and methods
1．1 General
All solvents used were of analytical grade made in
China．A1l color reactions were carried out in capped
test tubes and repeated three times．Determinations of
the anthocyanin and the total ginsenoside contents of
the root tubers were repeated three times too．UV Ⅵ s
spectrum was measured at 22℃ in a 1 cm pathlength
quartz cell in the 2OO一 700 nm range using a Shimad—
zu一2450 UV—Vis spectrophotometer，and then was pho—
tographed by a digital camera(Nikon COOLPIX
P5100)．
1．2 Plant matedal
On Oct 14 of 2005，40 root tubers of P．notogin—
seng were randomly selected and collected from the
Huazhuang village of the Matang Town of the W ens—
han Eparchy．The hypsography of the fields selected is
comparatively complanate，the average altitude is 1 580
m，and the soil belongs to loamy clay．Every root tuber
was quickly cleaned with tap water，and the exterior
water of the tubers was absorbed entirely by filter pa—
pers at once．
1．3 Investigation on the morphological and statistical
characteristics of the root tuber coloration
For the 40 root tubers，every one was cut breadth—
wise into almost two even parts with a unilateral stain一
1ess steel blade．The coloration of the transverse sec—
tion was observed，and photographed by the digital
cam era．
1．4 Systematic preparatory tests on the pigments of the
rot tubers with purely purple，farraginous color of
yellow and purple，and purely yellow
The two parts of a root tuber prepared in 1．3
were cut lengthways again，respectively，producing two
pairs of lengthways homologous parts which were fro—
zen at一20一一22℃ 。and hereinafter used to study pig—
ment and the total ginsenoside content respectively．
2．0 g of the parts of the root tubers with pure
purple，farraginous color of yellow and purple and pure
yellow were cut up，and ground in a white porcelain
pestle quickly and completely at about 15~C after mix—
ing with about 5 mL of petroleum ether，10％ hydro—
chloric acid and 25 ammonia solution，respectively．
Extracts were filtered immediately(Antian，1989；
Cheng，2000)．
2．0 g of the parts of the root tubers with above
color difference were ground quickly and completely at
about 15 ℃ after mixing with approximate 1 5 mL
methanol containing 1 concentrated HCL(v／v)
(Markham，1982)．Extracts were filtered and the resi—
dues were washed till they became ful white．The fi-
nal extracts were diluted to 50 mL with the above acid-
ic methano1．The extracts were refrigerated under 3℃
in darkness，and tested with follow reactions respec—
tively(Lin，1977；An，1996)．
(1)Concentrated HCL．Mg or Zn powder reac—
tion：2 mL extract was added a little Mg or Zn powder，
and shaken to make the powders be submerged com—
pletely，then added 5 drops of concentrated HC1，placed
quietly for 5 min．(2)NaBH4 reaction．2 mL extract
was added 8 mg NaBH4，added 1 mL of 1．O HCL a—
gain，shaken adequately，and finaly placed quietly for 1
h．(3)Paper spot reaction of ：5 drops of the ex—
tract were dripped on a piece of filter paper，quickly
dripped 5 drops of 1．O A1C13·6H2O-C2 H5OH so—
lution(w／v)，and churned with a slender glass stick．
After being placed quietly for 15——20 min，the spots
dried entirely．and were observed under a UV light．
(4)Ammoniac SrCl2 reaction：10 mL CH3OH was dilu—
ted to 25 mL with 25％ ammonia solution，producing
CH OH solution saturated by ammonia．2 mL extracts
were added 10 drops of 0．01 mol／L SrC12·6H2 O-
CH3 OH solution(w／v)，added 10 drops of the CH3 OH
solution saturated by ammonia，shaken adequately，and
finally placed quietly for 1 h．(5)Fecl3 reaction：2 mL
extract was added 2 mL of 5．O FeC13·6H2O，shak—
an adequately，and finally placed quietly for 5 min．(6)
Pb(CH3COO)2 reaction：2 mL extract was added 2 mL
of 1．0 Pb(CH3COO)2·3H2O，shaken adequately，
and finally placed quietly for 5 min．(7)H3 BO3 reac—
tion：2 rnL extract was added 10 drops of l-0
H2 C204·2H2O，added again 3 mL of 2．O H3BOa，
shaken adequately．and finally placed quietly for 5 min．
(8)Na2CO~reaction：2 mL extract was added 2 mL of
664 广 西 植 物 28卷
5 9／6 Naz C0{，shaken adequately，and finaly placed qui—
etly for 30 rain，then ventilated for 10 min．(9)Concen-
trated H2 804 reaction：2 mL extract was added 1．5 mL
of concentrated H2 804，shaken adequately，and placed
in boiling bath for 5 min．
1．5 UV-、，is spectra of the root tuber pigment
The pigments of the root tubers with pure pur—
pie，farraginous color of yellow and purple and pure
yellow were respectively extracted with the methanol
containing 1 concentrated HCl(v／v)according to the
operation procedure in 1．4(Markham，1982)．Extracts
were diluted properly and the UV—Vis spectra were
performed as soon as possible using the spectropho—
tom eter．
1．6 De~rminafion of the anthocyanin contents of the
root tube r
2．000 g of the root tubers with pure purple，farra—
ginous color of yelow and purple and pure yellow were
respectively extracted with the methanol containing
1 concentrated HCL(v／v)(Markham，1982)．The
final extracts were diluted to 100 mL with the same a—
cidic methano1．Anthocyanin contents were determined
by the method proposed by Rabino & Mancinelli
(1986)，and worked out by the formula(A5旷
0．25 5 )／g(FW)．
1．7 Determination of the total ginsenoside content of the
root tuber
The root tubers with pure purple，farraginous col—
or of yelow and purple and pure yellow were treated at
105℃ for 10 min，and roasted at 80℃ til their con—
stant weights，then ground into fine powders which
could pass the sieve with the mesh of 80．In a centrifu—
gation tube of 10 mL，being treated by an ultrasonic of
40 000 Hz and i00 W(Ma，et n￡．，2005)，0．100 g pow—
der was extracted with 2 mL methano1 for 40 min．Af—
ter being centrifugated at 7 000 g for 15 min at 22℃ 。
the supernatant was transferred into another centrifu—
gation tube，added the solution of vanillin-acetic acid
and perchloric acid，and heated in 60℃ water bath for
15 min．Cooled to 22℃ ，the final solution was used to
determined A560 in the same spectrophotometer． The
total ginsenoside content was figure out by the stand—
ard curve equation proposed by(Chen et a1．，2002)．
1．8 Analysis on the correlation of the anthocyanin con’
tent and the t0tal ginsenoside content 0f the rot tuber 。
On the bases of 1．6 and 1．7，the correlation of the
anthocyanin content and the total ginsenoside content
of the root tuber was analyzed with the software SPSS
11．5
2 Results and analyses
2．1 Morphological an d statistical characteristics of the
rot tuber coloration of P．notoginseng
The transverse sections of the root tubers are
yelow，yelowish green，dark yelow or purple(Fig．1)．
Thus，the coloration of the transverse section can be
thought to range from yellowish white to purple piece
by piece．It seems that，if the transverse section be—
comes from yellow to purple，the pericycle becomes
purple first(Fig．1)．As to the purple root tuber，the
pericycle，endodermis，cortex or epidermis，sometimes
including the primary phloem，are purple(Fig．1 F)．
Being analyzed from the color differences of the
transverse sections of the 40 root tubers。11 can be re-
gamed as purely purple，9 as purely yellow and other
20 as farraginous color which is mixed by yellow and
purple diversely．They occupy 28．21 、48．72％ and
23．77 9／6 of the 40 root tubers respectively(Fig．2)．
2．2 Specific color reactions of the rot tuber pigments of
P．notoginseng
In the petroleum ether，hydrochloric acid and am～
monia solution tests，the root tubers with pure purple，
farraginous color of yellow and purple and pure yellow
expressed colorless，red of different degrees and green—
ish yellow of different degrees respectively(Table 1)．
The yelowish green emerged in the ammonia solution
tests should be the result which the blue produced by
the reaction of anthocyanins with the ammonia solution
mixes with the yellow produced by the reaction of oth—
er flavonoids wi th the ammonia solution．So，the pig—
ments of the root tubers wi th pure purple，farraginous
color of yelow and purple and pure yelow of P．noto—
ginseng may belong to flavonoids，excluding carote—
noids(Fig．3 A)．The purple may result radically from
anthocyanins，and the hue differences of the root tuber
5期 赵昶灵等：三七块根紫色素的花色苷本质及其含量和总皂苷含量的正相关性 665
purple may only because of the content differences of
the anthocyanins(Fig．3 B)(Antian，1989；Cheng，
2000)．On the other hand，no red or orange red arose
in the ammonia solution reactions of the root tubers
with pure purple，farraginous color and pure yellow，
suggesting that the root tuber pigments may not con一
1．4
1．2
1．O
O．8
0．6
0．4
0．2
0．0
tain aurones(Yimidafu，1985)．
The extracts of the root tubers with pure purple，
farraginous color and pure yellow prepared by using
the methanol containing 1 concentrated HCL(v／v)as
solvent are dark mauve，light mauve and faint mauve
respectively．
Fig．1 Coloration of the transverse sections of the root tubers of P．notoginseng
From A to F，the transverse section colors of the root tubers are thought to range from yellowish white to purple piece by piece
Root tube r s Root tube r s with Root tube r s
with P“re fa r ragi nous coIor of with puro
purpI。 yelI。w and purpIe Y eIIow
Root tube rs with diffe rent coIors
Fig．2 Average anthocyanin contents，proportions and
average total ginsenoside contents of the root tubers
of P．notog inseng with different colors
In the concentrated HC1-Mg powder reactions，the
extracts of the root tubers with pure purple，farragi—
nous color and pure yellow produced spumes which are
red of different degree(Table 1)．Therefore，the root
tuber pigments may contain anthocyanins(and／or their
aglycones，namely anthocyanidins)(Fig．3 B)，flavo—
nols，flavanonols and flavanones，excluding isoflavones，
chalcones，aurones and catechins． Moreover，the fact
that the solutions are almost colorless after the spumes
disappear implies that the 3一hydroxyls of the pigment
molecules are glycosylation(Lin，1977；Xiao，1987)．
In the concentrated HCL-Zn powder reactions，the
extracts produced the similar results as in the concen—
trated HCL-Mg powder reactions，showing that the
pigments may also contain flavanonols and flavonol-，3_。
O-glycosides，but do not contain flavonols and fla—
vanonol-3一O-glycosides(Lin，1977；An，1996)．
In the NaBH4 reactions，the extracts produced
white turbidity(Table 1)，suggesting that the pigments
do not contain flavanonols and flavanones(Lin，1977；
Xiao，1987；An，1996)．
In the paper spot reactions of AIC13，the spots
produced by the extracts with A1C13 al produced
yellow fluorescence of different intensities under UV
light(Table 1)，suggesting again that the pigments be—
long to flavonoids(Fig．3 A)，and exclude 4-hydroxyl
flavonols or 7，4 一two hydroxyls flavonols(Lin，1977；
Xiao，1987；An，1996)．
In the ammoniac SrC12 reactions，the extracts pro—
duced green precipitate(Table 1)，suggesting that the
pigment molecules may be provided with o—dihydroxy—
666 广 西 植 物 28卷
is,namely 3 ，4Ctwo hydroxyls(Lin，1977；Xiao’1987；
An，1996)．
In the FeC13 reactions，the extracts produced
brown 0f different degrees(Table 1)，suggesting that
the pigment molecules are consequentially provided
with phenolic hydroxyls and the 3 positions do not
possess of any dissociative hydroxyls(Lin，1977；An，
1996)．
Table 1 Specific color reactions of the pigments of the root tubers with P
action was caried out on a piece of filter paper
7
6
7
4
3
4
5
4
5
A
B
Fig．3 Structure of the basic framework of ftavonoids
A-Genera1 framework of flavonoids．B．Framework structure of an—
thocya山 s which belong to flavonoids．“R’’stands for the saccharide
residue．
In the Pb(CH3COO)2 reactions,the extracts pro—
duced white precipitate or turbidity(Table 1)，sugges—
ting that the pigments may hold phenolic o-dihydroxy—
ls,and mav also hold the structure of‘4一C=O，3一OH”
0r‘4-C： O，5一OH”，excluding chalcones and aurones
(Lin。1977；An，1996)．
In the H3 B03 reactions，the extracts expressed
colorless(Table 1)，suggesting that the pigments may
not hold 5一hydroxyl(Lin，1977；An，1996)．
In the Na2 CO：I reactions，the extracts produced
light yellowish green precipitate or turbidity(Table 1)’
and after being ventilated，no color changes were ob—
served except a 1ittle precipitate emerged,suggesting a—
gain that the pigments belong to flavonoids and may
hoid Dhenolic or other o-dihydroxyls，possibly including
flavones and excluding chalcones，aurones，flavonols
and flavanones(Lin，1977；Xiao，1987；An，1996)．
In the concentrated H2 SO4 reactions,the extracts
Droduced orange red of different degrees，and after be—
ing treated in boiling water bath，the expressed colors
did not change(Table 1)，suggesting again that the plg—
ments may hold flavones，flavonols and flavanones
(Lin，1977；Xiao，1987；An，1996)，but excluding isofla—
vones and isoflavanones which are the characteristic of
Leguminosae(Harborne，1973；Harborne，1984)．
2．3 UV-vis spectra of the root tuber pigments of P．nO—
toginseng
For the solutions of the root tubers prepared by
using the methanol containing 1 9，6 concentrated HCL
5期 赵昶灵等：三七块根紫色素的花色苷本质及其含量和总皂苷含量的正相关性 667
(v／v)as solvent，three main absorption peaks，namely
at 240—285 nm，290— 330 nm and 530 nm，were ob—
served in the Uv_visible spectra of the root tubers with
pure purple and farraginous color(Fig．4 A and B)，and
two main absorption peaks，namely at 240——285 nrn
and 290—330 nm，were observed in the spectra of the
root tubers with pure yellow(Fig．4 C)．
The basic structures of the purple pigment can be
reflected by the UV-vis spectra． The peaks at 240——
285 nm and 300-350 nm have proved to be the typical
absorptions of BandⅡ and BandIof flavonoids(Mark—
ham，1982；Tan，2002)．The peaks at 530 nm are the
characteristic absorption peak of anth0cyanins(Zhang，
当
>
8
写
2
蛊
3．000
2．250
0．750
0
2 00 35O 500 650
Wave I ength(nm)
3．500
2．625
1．750
0．875
0
1990；Meng et a1．，2001)． The high intensity of the
peaks at 252 or 251 nm show once more that the pig—
ments do not contain chalcones and aurones，the weak
shoulder peaks at 320 nm imply the pigments may by
acylated by cinnamonic acids，and the second peak of
Ba nd I between 240 and 285 nm indicates the existence
of 3 ，4 一dihydroxyl system (Markham，1982；Tan，
2002)．Thus，the purple of the root tubers of P．notog—
inseng wi th pure purple and farraginous color should
result from anthoeyanins and／or their aglycones，name—
ly anthocyanidins，and the light yellow of the root tu—
bers with pure yellow should result from other non-red
f1avonoids(Zhao，g nZ．，2005)．
200 350 500 650
Wave I ength(nm)
Fig．4 UV-visible spectra of the root tubers with pure purple，farraginous color and pure yellow of P
． notoginseng
A is the spectra of‘the root tubers with pure purple”，B is that of“the root tubers with farraginous color of yellow and purple”．
and C is that of“the root tubers with pure yelow’．The solvent is methanol containing 1 HCL(v／v)．
Furthermore，the hue difference of the root tubers
of P．notoginseng with pure purple．farraginous color of
yelow and purple and pure yellow can be reflected by
their UV-vis spectra(Fig．4)．The spectrum of the root
tubers wi th pure purple is very similar to that of the
root tubers with farraginous color，and the obvious
difference is that the absorption peak of the extract of
the root tubers with pure purple at 530 nm is much
higher than that of the extract of the root tubers with
farraginous color(Fig．4，A and B)，which is consistent
with the hue differences of the three kinds of root tu—
bers(Fig．1，2)．The above specific reactions indicated
that the root tubers with pure yellow still hold antho—
cyanins and／or their aglycones，namely anthocyanidins
(Table 1)，but no peak was found at 530 nm in the
spectrum of their extract(Fig．4，C)，which should due
to the lower anthocyanins content in the root tubers
with pure yellow(Fig．2)，being directly evidenced by
the yellow of the root tubers(Fig．1)．
2．4 Anthocyanin and t0tal ginsenoside contents of the
root tuber of P．notoginseng
The average anthocyanin content and the average
tota1 ginsenoside content of the root tubers of P．noto—
ginseng with pure purple are all the highest，next are
those of the root tubers with farraginous color of
yellow and purple，and the lowest are those of the root
tubers with pure yellow(Fig．2)，which is consistent
with the changing trend of the color hues of the differ—
ent root tubers(Fig．1 and 2)．
On one hand，the average anthocyanin content of
the root tubers with farraginous color or pure yelow is
only 63．17 or 50．85 of that of the root tubers
with pure purple respectively，and the difference of an—
thocyanin contents of the root tubers with different
colors reaches the most significant IeveI because vari—
ance analysis reflected that：F value= 117．32> 30．82
668 广 西 植 物 28卷
1
1
1
0
O
O
O
4
2
0
8
6
4
2
0
宝宝宝笔暑宝宝暑笔暑暑
u- u-
Root tub
Fig．5 Aanthocyanin content of the individual root tuber of P．notoginseng with different colors
“PY”stands for“pure yellow’。“FCYP”stands for“farraginous color of yellow and purple”and“PP”stands for“pure purple”
一 Fo
． 99(2，3)．
In fact，every root tuber of P．notoginseng was de—
termined to contain anthoeyanins of different quantity．
If the aithocyanin contents of the 40 root tubers were
arranged from the smallest to the biggest，it was found
that，along with increase of the anthocyanin content，
the purple of the root color basicaly becomes more and
more obvious gradually，namely from pure yelow to
pure purple(Fig．5)．As a result，it is impossible and
insignificant that the category-compartmentalizing of
the root tubers of P．notoginseng is only based on the
anthocyanin content value of the individual root tuber．
Recognition of human eyes to the hue differences of the
root tubers can not exactly reflect the anthocyanin con—
tent of the individua1 root tuber either．On the side，so
far，no evidence shows whether the purp1e—increasing of
the root tuber is one of the obvious evolutionary trends
of P．notoginseng．
On the other hand，the average total ginsenoside
content of the root tubers with farraginous color or
pure yellow is 98．61 9／6 or 83．38 of that of the root
tubers with pure purple respectively，and the difference
of anthocyanin contents of the root tubers with differ—
ent colors does not reach the significant level because
variance analysis reflected that：F value一 8．42< 9．55
= F0
． 95(2，3)．
2．5 Correlation of the anthocyanin content and the total
ginsenoside content of the root tuber of P．notoginseng
Analysis of the software SPSS 1 1．5 indicated that
the anthocyanin content of the root tuber of P．notog—
inseng is positively related with its total ginsenoside
content at the significant level and the correlation coef—
ficient(r)is 0．355(rable 2)
Table 2 Correlation of the anthocyanin content and the
total ginsenoside content of the root tuber of P．
notoginseng analyzed by the software SPSS 1 1．5
3 Dicussion
P．notoginseng is“the first medicinal material’in
Yunnan of China and P．notoginseng produced in the
W enshan eparchy of Yunnan is the Genuine Medicinal
Material of P．notoginseng．The transverse sections of
the root tubers of P．notoginseng range from yellowish
white to purple．The root tubers with pure purple oc—
cupy about 28．21 0A of the root tubers researched，and
their pericycles，endodermises，cortexes or epidermises，
sometimes including the primary phloems，are purple．
Specific color reactions and UV—vis spectra indicated
that the purple pigment of the root tuber of P．notog—
inseng belongs to flavonoids，probably holding phenolic
o-dihydroxyls，excluding carotenoids，chalcones，auron—
es，isoflavones and catechins． Anthocyanins and／or
their aglycones，namely anthocyanidins，underlay the
pigmentation of the purple root tuber and other non—
red flavonoids function as co-pigments． The average
anthocyanin content and the average total ginsenoside
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5期 赵昶灵等：三七块根紫色素的花色苷本质及其含量和总皂苷含量的正相关性 669
content of the root tubers with pure purple are all the
highest，next are those of the root tubers with farragi—
nous color of yellow and purple，and the lowest are
those of the root tubers with pure yellow，which is
consistent with the changing trend of the color hues of
the different root tubers．The difference of anthocyanin
contents of the root tubers with different colors reaches
the most significant level，but the difference of antho—
cyanin contents does not reach the significant leve1．
Every root tuber contains anthocyanins of different
quantity，and along wi th increase of the anthocyanin
content，the purple of the root color basically becomes
more and more obvious gradually，namely from pure
yellow to pure purple．Analysis of the software SPSS
1 1．5 indicated that the anthocyanin content of the root
tuber of P．notoginseng is positively related with the
total ginsenoside content at the significant level and the
correlation coefficient(r)is 0．355．
Specific color reactions have been thought to be a
powerful method to verify the existence of certain kind
metabolite in plant cells，however，in our research，dif-
ferent COlOr reactions produced inconsistent results．A
series of color reactions used in this study are common
and specific reactions to substantiate the presence of
the flavonoids，including the concrete types of fla—
vonoids，in plants(Lin，1977；Yimidafu，1985；Xiao，
1987；An，1996)．It is a great pity that，as to the fla—
vonoids of the root tuber pigment of P．notoginseng，
these reactions can not yet prove whether flavonols，
flavanonols and flavanones exist together with the an—
thocyanins．Further researches are urgently needed to
solve the problem．
The anthocyanin content of the root tuber of P．
notoginseng is positively related with its total ginsen—
oside content，but it is totally unknown what the basis
for this correlation is．The biosynthesis pathway of an—
thocyanin has been found to be nothing to do with that
of ginsenoside(Tanaka et a1．，1998；Chen Wu，
2004)．Contrarily，the biosynthesis pathway of ginsen—
oside resembles the primary several reactions of the ca—
rotenoids biosvnthesis(Zhao eta1．，2003；Chen Wu，
2004)． Perhaps，the mathematical correlation of the
anthocyanin content and the total ginsenoside content
is only propitious to the identification of the root tubers
of high quality． In general，because it has been con—
firmed that light is the most primary factor which in—
f1uences the biosynthesis and decomposition of antho—
cyanins(Sweeny et a1．，1981；Rabino & Mancinelli，
1986；Beckwith et a1．，2004)，the root tuber appears to
be not the synthesizing organ but the accumulating or—
gan of the anthocyanin pigments．So，the synthesis and
accumulation mechanisms of anthocyanins in P．notog—
inseng should be the key to understand the biological
and ecological significances of the purple of the root tu—
bers to the survival of P．notoginseng．
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三七块根紫色素的花色苷本质及其
含量和总皂苷含量的正相关性
赵昶灵1，王 颖2，段承俐 ，陈中坚3，萧凤回 ，2
(1．云南农业大学 农学与生物技术学院，昆明 650201；2．云南农业大学 中药材研究所 ，
昆明 650201；3．云南文山三七研究院 天然药物研究所 ，云南 文山 663000)
摘 要：三七是中国云南省的“第一药材”，云南文山三七是三七的道地药材。三七块根的横截面为黄白色至紫
色。紫色块根约占研究块根总数的28．21 ，其中柱鞘、内皮层、皮层或表皮为紫色。特征颜色反应和紫外——
可见光谱表明：三七块根紫色素属于黄酮类化合物，可能含有酚性邻位二羟基，不含类胡萝 卜素、查耳酮、噢哜、
异黄酮、儿茶素。花色苷和／或其苷元花色素奠定了紫色块根着色的基础，其他的非红色的黄酮类化合物起共色
素的作用。块根的平均花色苷含量和平均总皂苷含量均以纯紫色块根的为最高，其次是黄紫混合色块根的，纯
黄色的最低。块根的花色苷含量差异达到极显著水平，但总皂苷含量差异却没有达到显著水平。每个块根都含
有不同量的花色苷，随花色苷量的增加，块根的紫色一般逐渐明显 。块根的花色苷含量与其总皂苷含量之间呈
显著正相关，相关系数r=0．355。本文可为三七块根颜色呈现的机理探索及其色素的分子结构鉴定提供参考。
关键词：三七；块根紫色素 ；花色苷本质；总皂苷含量；正相关性