Comparison of chemical composition in the buds of Aralia elata from different geographical origins of China

Aralia elata buds contain many nutrients and have a pleasant taste with unique flavor. Previous studies mainly focused on triterpene saponins in the root bark of this species, but little information existed concerning other chemical components, especially in the buds. To better understand the nutritional value of Aralia elata, we compared total flavonoids, total saponins, phenolic compounds and mineral elements contents in the buds of Aralia elata collected from eight different geographical regions (S1: Benxi; S2: Linjiang; S3: Pingwu; S4: Enshi; S5: Changbaishan; S6: Shangzhi; S7: Xiaoxinganling and S8: Harbin) in China. The results showed that the basic composition in the buds presented a wide variation noticed by ash (8.76 to 10.35%), crude fiber (5.38 to 11.07%), polysaccharides (33.85 to 46.79 mg/g), total flavonoid content (4.06 to 48.63 mg/g) and total saponins (13.62 to 27.85 mg/g). UPLC combined with LC-MS/MS method was used for the phenolic compounds analysis, and eleven pheno...