GC-MS-Based Volatile Metabolomics for Geographical Origin Discrimination of Artemisia argyi Lévl. Et Van

Artemisia argyi Lévl. et Van. (A. argyi) is a time-honored Traditional Chinese Medicine with a rich medicinal history. Its volatile oil possesses diverse pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, antiviral, and antitumor activities, among others. The quality of A. argyi volatile oil (AAVO) is influenced by its place of origin, which is highly correlated with its content of metabolites. In this study, AAVO was extracted according to the method of volatile oil determination (Method A) in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, and 21 batches of samples from the five origins of the leaves, namely, Qichun County, Hubei Province (HBQC); Nanyang City, Henan Province (HNNY); Anguo City, Hebei Province (HBAG); Tangyin County, Henan Province (HNTY); and Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province (ZJNB), were investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and chemometric techniques. Initially, all samples were analyzed by GC-MS, and 80 metabolites were preliminarily identified by matching with the NIST Mass Spectrometry Search Program. These identifications were subsequently verified by comparing the calculated retention indices (RIs) of each compound with literature values. Six chemical markers were screened through principal component analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) analysis to effectively distinguish the five origins with significant geographical variability. Subsequently, the five metabolites were quantitatively analyzed by GC-MS to obtain more precise content information. This study is of great value for identifying the volatile oil of A. argyi from different origins, and also provides a reference for evaluating the quality of the volatile oil of A. argyi from different origins.