Comparative investigation on chemical constituents of flower bud, stem and leaf of Lonicera japonica Thunb. by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MSn and GC-MS

In approaches of HPLC coupled with diode array detector tandem multiple mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MSn) and GC-MS techniques, efficient comparative methods were developed to profile the chemical constituents in flower bud, leaf and stem parts of Lonicera japonica Thunb. (LJT). 22 polar compounds of various chemical structures and 19 volatile or semi-volatile compounds were tentatively identified from aerial parts of the plant. A number of common composition groups in three separate parts of the plant were proposed, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, iridoids, alkanes, olefins and sterols, the leaf showing higher similarity with the flower bud part via their chemical constituents. Considering the fact that the leaf part has a lot of similar components with the flower bud, this study indicates the leaf part of LJT can be expected to be used as an alternative medicinal resource to the flower bud and stem of the plant.