Abstract: Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS)-based metabolomics was used to investigate primary metabolites in ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits from three production regions in Guizhou province. Multivariate statistical analyses such as principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) as well as metabolic pathway analysis were employed to explore the effect of the geographical origin on the primary metabolites of ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits. The results showed that a total of 307 metabolites were identified, and the geographic affected the type and content of metabolites in ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits. Meanwhile, 13 differential metabolites were identified between ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits from Liangtian and Liuma, and 49 differential metabolites were identified in ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits from Huishui versus Liuma, and Huishui versus Liangtian. In addition, the OPLS-DA results showed a clear discrimination between ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits from different geographical origins, and the samples showed an obvious clustering distribution, indicating that the geographical origin had a profound impact on the primary metabolites of ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits. Metabolic pathway analysis showed that the major mechanism for the difference in the primary metabolites of ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits from different production areas lay in the metabolism of amino acids, and it was found that the geographical origin imposed the most significant impact on amino acids. The results from this study can provide a theoretical basis for identifying and tracing the geographical origin of ‘Fengtang’ plum fruits.

Key words: geographical origin; ‘Fengtang’ plum; primary metabolism; ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; metabolomics