Mechanism of sodium nitroprusside regulating ginseng quality

作者：Wei Zhang, Pengcheng Yu, Wenfei Liu, Liyang Wang, Xiaowen Song, Yao Yao, Xiubo Liu, Meng Xiangcai · 发表于：Scientific Reports · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41598-025-85905-3 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Ginseng Biological Effects and Applications、Phytoestrogen effects and research、Food Quality and Safety Studies

The roots of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer (ginseng) are one of the traditional medicinal herbs in Asian countries and is known as the “king of all herbs”. The most important active components of ginseng are the secondary metabolite saponins, which are closely related to ecological stress. Unsuitable ecological stress can generate a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS), by which the secondary metabolism is regulated, and the quality of herbs can be significantly improved. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) treatment on the quality of fresh ginseng roots. In this study, 5-year-old fresh ginseng was exposed to 0.1, 0.5, and 2 mmol/L SNP, a nitric oxide (NO) donor for five consecutive days. SNP significantly increased the levels of O 2 ·− , H 2 O 2 , malondialdehyde (MDA), NADPH oxidase (NOX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxides (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), ascorbate (AsA) and GSH/GSSG. The main root treated by 0.5 mmol/L SNP for three days was the best, with the activities of the key enzymes of the ginsenoside synthesis pathway, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPS), squalene synthase (SS), squalene epoxidase (SE), and dammarane diol-II synthase (DS) activities increased markedly; the ginsenosides Rg 1 + Re, Rb 1 , Rf, Rc, Rg 2 + Rh 1 and the total ginsenoside contents increased by 51.0%, 77.7%, 44.6%, 26.8%, 63.2% ...