Fatty acid variability in three medicinal herbs of Panax species

The content of investigated 11 fatty acids, including myristic acid, pentadecanoic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, heptadecanoic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid, arachidic acid and eicosadienoic acid, obviously varied among three species, suggesting each species has its own fatty acid pattern. Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis according to the absolute and relative contents of fatty acids, showed that 30 tested samples could be clearly differentiated according to the species.These findings demonstrated that GC-MS-based fatty acid profiling coupled with multivariate statistical analysis provides reliable platform to classify these three Panax species, which is helpful for ensuring their safety and efficacy.Several plants of the Panax species (Family Araliaceae), including Panax ginseng C. A. Mey. (Asian ginseng), Panax quinquefolius L. (American ginseng) and Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen (Notoginseng), have been traditionally used as valuable medicinal herbs since the ancient times in the oriental countries. Current phytochemical and pharmacological studies revealed that Panax species contain a variety of bioactive ingredients, including triterpene saponins (ginsenosides), fatty acids, polysaccharides and polyacetylenes [1], and exhibit extensively beneficial effects on immune system, central nervous system and cardiovascular system, cancer and diabetes, etc. [2-4]. The ginsenosides and polysaccharides have been generally considered to be their main bioactive components. In the past years, fatty acids, traditionally viewed as the source of energy, have attracted interest for research and public health, due to their effects on human health and diseases [5]. The unsaturated fatty acids, including monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), are health-promoting and have significant metabolic and cardiovascular benefits [6-8]. There is convincing evidence that the