Metabolomics data of root and stem tissues in five-year-old <i>Sophora flavescens</i>.
Zhang N, Li JF, Zhao SC, Wang XY, Li M, Xu FL, Li XQ.
Medicinal Plants
Herbalists and foragers who work with roots versus stems of medicinal plants now have hard data showing those tissues aren't interchangeable — the chemistry is genuinely different, which affects potency and safety.
Researchers took a medicinal shrub called Sophora flavescens — a plant long used in Chinese herbal medicine — and ran a detailed chemical inventory of its roots and stems separately. They found that each tissue has its own distinct fingerprint of compounds, meaning roots and stems aren't doing the same chemical work. This kind of map helps growers, harvesters, and herbalists know exactly which part of the plant to use and when.
Key Findings
Roots and stems of Sophora flavescens have distinctly different metabolite profiles, confirmed by multivariate statistical analysis (PCA and PLS-DA)
Specific metabolites were found significantly enriched in roots versus stems, and vice versa, pointing to tissue-specific biosynthesis pathways
The dataset includes raw LC-MS files, annotated metabolite lists, and pathway enrichment results — making it reusable for comparative and multi-omics research
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists mapped the full chemical profiles of roots and stems in a five-year-old medicinal shrub, revealing which healing compounds concentrate where in the plant and why that matters for harvesting and quality control.
Abstract Preview
This dataset provides full metabolomic data for root and stem samples of Sophora flavescens, a commonly used Chinese medicine. Metabolites were extracted separately from root and stem samples and s...
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Sophora flavescens, the shrubby sophora, is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to a wide area of East Asia.