ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Crop Biology and Sustainability
Study of the differential active components and anti-proliferative effects of Gardenia jasminoides J.Ellis at different harvesting periods
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, School of Medicine and Life sciences, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
- 2China Mobile Group Jiangsu Co., Ltd., Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China, Nanjing, China
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Objective: To investigate the quality standards and anti-proliferative effects of Gardenia jasminoides J.Ellis (GJE) at different harvesting periods, and to determine the optimal harvesting time for anti-cancer applications. Methods: A fast, simple, and accurate analytical method was established using UFLC/Q-TOF-MS technology in positive and negative ion modes to identify differential components in GJE samples collected at seven harvesting periods. The anti-proliferative effects of GJE extracts were evaluated against MCF7 breast cancer and HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines using MTT assay. Results: A total of 52 components were successfully identified from GJE samples, including iridoid glycosides, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. GJE demonstrated stronger anti-proliferative effects against HepG2 cells compared to MCF7 cells. The anti-proliferative activity increased progressively with fruit maturation, reaching peak efficacy at stages 5-6 (orange-red to red fruits) and declining at stage 7 (overripe dark red fruits). Most iridoid glycosides, flavonoids and phenolic acids showed increasing trends during the growth process, correlating with enhanced anti-proliferative effects. Conclusions: GJE may serve as a potential source for developing anti-cancer therapeutic agents due to its demonstrated anti-proliferative activity. The mature fruits at stages 5-6 are most suitable for anti-cancer applications, providing scientific guidance for optimal harvesting time and quality standardization of GJE as a medicinal material.
Keywords: GardeniajasminoidesJ.Ellis(GJE), Harvestingperiods, Ultra-fastliquidchromatography (UFLC)-TripleTOF MS, Differential active components, Anti-proliferativeeffects
Received: 25 Sep 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chai, Jin, Cui, Cui, Shan, Yu and Wen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hongmei Wen, rysh3675@outlook.com
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