Global Profiling of Metabolites in Korean Medicinal and Functional Plants by an In-house Library

Plants have been utilized as crucial raw materials for medicine development worldwide and consumed in the form of food or medicine due to their medicinal properties. Since medicinal efficacy of plants is derived from numerous bioactive metabolites synthesized within them, identifying metabolites present in specific plants is crucial. In this study, we conducted global metabolite profiling of medicinal and functional plants used in Korea, employing liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). To enhance the reliability of metabolite identification, we constructed an in-house library containing 106 compounds and used it as a reference for the identification process. Additionally, to maximize the number of metabolites identified, we compared the extraction efficiency of dichloromethane, diethyl ether, 70% ethanol and methanol confirming that extraction using 70% ethanol and methanol was the most effective. Based on these findings, we conducted global metabolite profiling of 30 plant species, resulting in the detection of 309 metabolites.