{
  "abstract": "Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. (S. chinensis) is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant whose fruits are rich in bioactive constituents, including lignans, organic acids, and flavonoids. Nevertheless, the biochemical dynamics underlying fruit development remain insufficiently characterized, limiting the effective cultivation, harvest, and utilization of S. chinensis. Here, we applied widely targeted metabolomics, together with a dynamic assessment of fruit growth, to profile temporal changes in major metabolites and to identify the optimal harvest window. The results show that the morphological changes in fruit mainly occurred from 70 to 110 days after fruit set; fresh fruit mass peaked at 110 days after fruit set. During the harvest period, the fruits are deep red and firm, showing no signs of softening. Meanwhile, fruit cluster weight, single fruit weight, and fruit longitudinal diameter all reached their peak values. Over the course of maturation, lignan levels declined markedly, whereas terpenoids, organic acids and flavonoids increased significantly. The most pronounced shifts were observed for schizandrin, gomisin N, shikimic acid, citric acid, gamma-terpinene and cyanidin 3-sophoroside, key marker compounds of S. chinensis fruit. Network pharmacology predicts that ESR1, RXRA, GATM, NCOA2, and SONEA are core targets. These findings provide a basis for determining timely harvest and for establishing quality evaluation criteria for S. chinensis.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Horticulture, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China",
    "State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-di Herbs, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Gaoyang Qu",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0983-1332"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mingwan Sun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shixiang Wei"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jiaming Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hongbo Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jiushi Liu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2678-6155"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/amrbzfsqdh6zq.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/ijms27219401",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "amrbzfsqdh6zq",
  "issns": [
    "1422-0067"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9401",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2707|Traditional Chinese Medicine Analysis"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223413721",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-22",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/amrbzfsqdh6zq.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:57Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/ijms27219401",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9401"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2707|Traditional Chinese Medicine Analysis",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Wide-Targeted Metabolomics Combined with Network Pharmacology Analysis Reveals Metabolite Dynamics and Optimal Harvest Time Across Developmental Stages in Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.",
  "title_text": "Wide-Targeted Metabolomics Combined with Network Pharmacology Analysis Reveals Metabolite Dynamics and Optimal Harvest Time Across Developmental Stages in Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:57Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/amrbzfsqdh6zq",
  "venue": "International Journal of Molecular Sciences",
  "versions": []
}