이동교 (강원대학교)

송우현 (강원대학교)

양희정 (강원대학교)

이동교 (강원대학교)

송우현 (강원대학교)

박진영 (강원대학교)

이지호 (강원대학교)

조채연 (강원대학교)

최경원 (강원대학교)

최성연 (강원대학교)

양희정 (강원대학교)

Plants produce a variety of primary and secondary metabolites through biosynthetic pathways, providing beneficial compounds for humans. These metabolites include sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, flavonoids, lignans, terpenoids, alkaloids, steroids, and saponins, contributing to the structural diversity of potential pharmaceutical compounds. To efficiently obtain plant-specific compounds, it is crucial to consider the polarity of the solvents used in metabolite extraction.

In this study, a total of 248 representative Korean medicinal plant species were investigated^1.. Each plant was extracted using three different solvents with varying polarities (100% water, 50% aqueous ethanol, and 100% ethanol), resulting in 744 samples. Using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS), a total of 63,944 MS/MS spectra in positive ion mode and 42,481 in negative ion mode were acquired. These spectra were visualized through the Global Natural Product Social (GNPS) molecular networking platform, and the chemical taxonomic types were annotated to examine the chemical distribution across plants. The resulting data have been summarized and made publicly available via the MassIVE repository(ftp://massive-ftp.ucsd.edu/v09/MSV000097043/). This study highlights the significance of the solvent polarity for the metabolite extraction in plant metabolomics research.

1.       Park, J., Lee, J., Cho, C. et al. Mass Spectral Data of Primary and Secondary Metabolites Changes in Medicinal Plants by Solvent Polarity. Sci Data 12, 893 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05262-8