{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T14:00:26Z","timestamp":1771250426882,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771027200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Graduate Innovative Research Project of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Science and Technology Plan of Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission","award":["2024yjscx021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024yjscx021"]}]},{"name":"Graduate Innovative Research Project of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Science and Technology Plan of Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission","award":["20241313050309"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20241313050309"]}]},{"name":"Graduate Innovative Research Project of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Science and Technology Plan of Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission","award":["2021YFD1600901"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021YFD1600901"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Trollius chinensis Bunge (TCB), a perennial Ranunculaceae herb, produces Flos Trollii-dried flowers with medicinal properties including heat clearing, detoxification, and relieving oral\/throat discomfort, eye pain, and cold-induced fever. TCB is mainly cultivated in northern China, while Trollius ledebouri Rchb. (TLR), distributed in Heilongjiang\u2019s Great Xing\u2019an Mountains, is morphologically similar to TCB. However, their regulatory statuses are inconsistent, and comprehensive comparative studies are lacking. This study adopted morphological assessment, microscopy, DNA barcoding, and physicochemical analysis to explore whether TLR could be a potential alternative source of Flos Trollii. Key differences were identified: TLR\u2019s sepals are shorter than petals, whereas TCB\u2019s sepals and petals are nearly equal in length; TLR has brown secretory structures absent in TCB. Genetic distance analysis showed high conservation in ITS2 and trnL-trnF sequences between the two species, but psbA-trnH sequence divergence exceeded the 0.05 threshold. HPLC quantification revealed that TLR contained slightly higher levels of orientin and vitexin than TCB. HPLC quantification revealed that TLR contained slightly higher levels of orientin (5.370\u20135.377 mg\/g) and vitexin (1.954\u20132.053 mg\/g) compared to TCB (orientin: 4.493\u20134.620 mg\/g; vitexin: 1.361\u20131.451 mg\/g). Collectively, TLR exhibits comparable flavonoid content and holds potential as an alternative Flos Trollii source. Given the limited bioactive compounds analyzed, future research should conduct comprehensive metabolomic profiling to fully evaluate its phytochemical composition and medicinal value. These data establish chemotaxonomic markers for Trollius authentication in herbal medicine.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biology15040332","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T12:37:28Z","timestamp":1771245448000},"page":"332","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Comparative Analysis of Morphological, Molecular, and Physicochemical Markers to Evaluate Trollius ledebouri Rchb. as a Potential Alternative Source to Trollius chinensis Bunge for High-Quality Flos Trollii Supplements"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Lianqing","family":"He","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Panpan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhen","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, School of Pharmacy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lingyang","family":"Kong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-4645-6069","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Junbai","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shumin","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Meitong","family":"Pan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Keke","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jiamusi College, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Jiamusi 154007, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Weili","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiubo","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China"},{"name":"Jiamusi College, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Jiamusi 154007, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105312","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bioorg.2021.105312","article-title":"Diterpenoid glycosides from the flower of Trollius chinensis Bunge and their nitric oxide inhibitory activities","volume":"116","author":"Guo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Bioorg. 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