Abstract: A metabolomics method was proposed for identifying the geographical origin of Maca and the differences in metabolites among geographical origins were analyzed by ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Five origins of Maca were successfully distinguished by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis and then the target and non-target metabolites of Maca from each geographical origin were analyzed. A total of 28 metabolites, including macaamide, macaene, glucosinolate, alkaloids, sterols, polyphenols and flavonoids, were identified by target metabolomics analysis. The markers from Maca geographical origin discrimination were identified by non-target metabolomics analysis. It is concluded that the metabolomics method can be used for the discrimination of Maca origin and the identification of the whole component.

Key words: Maca, metabolomics, ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, geographical origin discrimination, chemometics