A Comparative Study on the Nutritional Characteristics of Six Species of Polygonatum spp. in Qiandongnan Prefecture

To systematically analyze the main nutritional components of six Polygonatum species, including P. filipes, P. cyrtonema, P. kingianum var. grandifolium, P. kingianum Coll.et Hemsl, P. punctatum, and P. cirrhifolium in Qiandongnan Prefecture, to provide a scientific basis for evaluating and utilizing Polygonatum germplasm resources. National standard methods were used to determine basic nutritional components including moisture, protein, crude ash, vitamin C, reducing sugars, and crude fat. An amino acid analyzer was employed to determine the composition and content of 16 amino acids. The results indicated that there were significant differences in the nutritional components among the six species of Polygonatum germplasms: P. kingianum Coll.et Hemsl showed the highest protein content（14.91 g·hg⁻¹）and total amino acids（10.07 g·hg⁻¹）, with its essential amino acid pattern meeting the ideal protein standard. P. cyrtonema and P. kingianum var. grandifolium contained higher levels of reducing sugars（7.27 g·hg⁻¹ and 6.84 g·hg⁻¹, respectively）. P. filipes exhibited superior performance in vitamin C（3.16 mg·hg⁻¹）and crude ash（6.91 g·hg⁻¹）contents. All germplasms were rich in flavor amino acids（45.2%-49.8% of total amino acids）and showed balanced amino acid composition. Different Polygonatum germplasms in Qiandongnan Prefecture possess distinct nutritional characteristics. The chemical diversity in their nutritional composition provides crucial information for germplasm identification, quality assessment, and differentiated utilization of Polygonatum resources.