Objective The contents of pharmacodynamic components of cultivated and wild Paeoniae Radix Rubra(PRR) in Heilongjiang Province were analyzed to reveal the influence of soil nutrient factors on the formation and accumulation of pharmacodynamic components of PRR.

Methods A comparative evaluation test method for cultivated and wild PRR was used, high-performance liquid chromatography was used to measure the data, and the SPSS20.0 was used for data statistics. Based on the factor analysis and canonical correlation analysis (CA) methods, the relationships between soil nutrient contents and pharmacodynamic components contents of cultivated and wild PRR in Heilongjiang Province were analyzed.

Results ① The soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen and available potassium contents of cultivated PRR were significantly lower than those of wild PRR, while the soil available phosphorus was significantly higher than that of wild PRR. ② The total glucoside content of cultivated PRR was significantly lower than that of wild PRR. Within the range of 43° - 52° north latitude in Heilongjiang Province, the paeoniflorin contents of cultivated and wild PRR showed an increasing trend with increasing regional latitude, while the contents of oxidized paeoniflorin, paeoniflorin glycosides, and benzoylpaeoniflorin changed irregularly. ③ Factor analysis showed that the proportion of two principal factors that could be extracted from soil nutrient variables of cultivated PRR (cumulative contribution rate is 52.72%) was less than that from wild PRR (cumulative contribution rate is 65.33%). ④Canonical correlation analysis showed that the contents of oxypaeoniflorin, catechin, benzoyl Paeoniflorin, and Paeoniflorin increased with the increase of soil available phosphorus and SOC, but decreased with the increase of soil pH. The influence load value of soil available phosphorus (0.649) was higher than that of SOC (0.491). The contents of paeoniflorin and Paeoniflorin in wild PRR increased with the increase of SOC and TN contents, and the influence load value of SOC (0.868) was higher than that of TN (0.746).

Conclusion The content of pharmacodynamic components of PRR in Heilongjiang Province varies due to different soil nutrient environments. The contents of oxidized paeoniflorin, catechin, benzoylpaeoniflorin and paeoniflorin in cultivated PRR are positively related to soil available phosphorus and SOC. The contents of oxidized paeoniflorin and paeoniflorin in wild PRR are positively correlated with the contents of SOC and TN. During the cultivation process, the application of appropriate phosphorus fertilizer and organic fertilizer is beneficial to the accumulation of medicinal ingredients in PRR.