Spectrum–effect relationship between HPLC fingerprint and hypoglycemic of litchi leaves (Litchi chinensis Sonn) in vitro

Litchi chinensis Sonn (Litchi) has been listed in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, and is an economically and medicinally valuable species within the family Sapindaceae. However, the material basis of its pharmacological action and the pharmacodynamic substances associated with its hypoglycemic effect are still unclear. The predominant objective of this study was to establish the fingerprint profile of litchi leaves and to evaluate the relationship between the components of the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint of litchi leaves, assess its hypoglycemic effect by measuring α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition, and find the spectrum–effect relationship of litchi leaves by bivariate correlation analysis, Grey relational analysis and partial least squares regression analysis. In this study, the fingerprint of litchi leaves was established by HPLC, and a total of 15 common peaks were identified that clearly calibrated eight components, with P1 being gallic acid, P2 being protocatechuic acid, P3 being catechin, P6 being epicatechin, P12 being rutin, P13 being astragalin, P14 being quercetin and P15 being kaempferol. The similarities between the fingerprints of 11 batches of litchi leaves were 0.766–0.979. Simultaneously, the results of the spectrum–effect relationship showed that the chemical constituents represented by peaks P8, P3, P12, P14, P2, P13, and P11 were relevant to the hypoglycemic effect.