Smilax glabra (SG) is commonly used as a traditional edible herb in eastern Asia. Recently, sulfur-fumigation has been frequently used in order to obtain better color and a longer storage lifetime. However, the chemical alterations caused by this process remain unknown. The aim of this research was to explore potential chemical differences between non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated SG samples. A novel approach was developed by using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) with principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial squared discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Fifty-eight compounds were unambiguously characterized or tentatively identified in the chemical profiles for the first time. Six newly generated sulfur-containing compounds, namely glucosyringic acid sulfate, 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid sulfite, 3-O-caffeoylshikimic acid sulfite, 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid sulfate, 3-O-caffeoylshikimic acid sulfate and astilbin sulfate, were screened out to be the most characteristic markers for distinguishing non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated SG. This newly proposed approach can not only be applied for exploring chemical markers but can also be used to investigate the chemical transformation mechanism associated with sulfur for other edible herbs.

东方mil（Smilax glabra（SG））通常用作传统的食用草。最近，为了获得更好的颜色和更长的存储寿命，硫熏蒸已被频繁使用。但是，由该过程引起的化学变化仍然未知。这项研究的目的是探讨未熏蒸和硫熏蒸的SG样品之间的潜在化学差异。通过使用具有主成分分析（PCA）和正交偏平方判别分析（OPLS-DA）的超高效液相色谱-四极杆/飞行时间质谱（UHPLC-QTOF-MS / MS），开发了一种新方法）。首次在化学概况中明确鉴定或初步鉴定了58种化合物。筛选了6种新生成的含硫化合物，分别是葡萄糖酸丁香酸硫酸盐，5-O-咖啡酰shi草酸亚硫酸盐，3-O-咖啡酰yl草酸硫酸盐，5-O-咖啡酰ki草酸硫酸盐，3-O-咖啡酰shi草酸硫酸盐和曲霉菌素硫酸盐。是区分非熏蒸和硫熏蒸SG的最有特色的标记。这种新提出的方法不仅可以用于探索化学标记，还可以用于研究与硫相关的其他食用草药的化学转化机理。