Determination of anti-hyperglycaemic activity in steroidal glycoside rich fraction of lily bulbs and characterization of the chemical profiles by LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS

The bulbs of Lilium brownii Brown var. viridulum Baker (lily) are commonly known as “Bai-he” for both functional food and medicine in China. In this study, the combination of bio-assay guided fractionation and chemical analysis revealed that steroidal glycoside rich L. brownii fraction (SGL) exhibited potential anti-hyperglycaemic activity. Further investigations demonstrated that SGL could increase glucose consumption in HepG2 cells and 3T3-L1 adipocytes by 1.61- and 2.13-fold, respectively, and enhance 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation. Total 29 steroidal glycosides in SGL were positively or tentatively identified using liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS), which afforded us a comprehensive understanding of the bioactive fraction. These results suggested that steroidal glycosides in L. brownii possessed desirable potential in glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. This is the first report on the determination of anti-hyperglycaemic activity in steroidal glycoside rich fraction of lily bulbs and characterization of the chemical profiles by LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS.