A comparative phytochemical study of nine Lauraceae species by using chemometric data analysis.

The diversity of secondary metabolites of individual plants results from multiple enzymatic processes in planta and various environmental factors, such as temperature, moisture, and soil conditions. Chemical composition analysis of plants can lead to a new method to understand relationship among comparable plants along with biological classification such as genetic and anatomical method. In this study, the chemical diversity of nine different Lauraceae species was investigated, and the plant samples were chemically analyzed and classified. Multivariate analysis methods, such as PLS-DA, were used to select important metabolites distinguishing the nine Lauraceae species. The selected metabolites were identified through preparative LC-MS or MS/MS fragment pattern analysis. In addition, the chemical dendrogram for the nine Lauraceae species was interpreted through molecular network analysis and compared with the genetic dendrogram. This approach enabled us to compare the complete chemical compositions of multiple plant samples to identify relationships among plants.