Genus Paeonia is an important ornamental and medicinal crop. The flowers of Paeonia are rich in flavonoids, and flavonoids have excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, which have the potential to slow down skin aging. In this study, flavonoids from whole flowers of six popular Paeonia cultivars were extracted using three different solvents. The composition and content of peony flowers flavonoids extracted with three solvents were determined by high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry / mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) and HPLC-diode array detection (DAD). A total of 26 flavonoids were isolated and identified, and 60 % ethanol showed the highest extraction efficiency. Not only flavonoids composition but also the content was significantly different in different peony flowers, among which ‘Hei Tian E’ had the most abundant composition (17 flavonoids) and the highest total content of flavonoids (57.75 mg/g DW by using 60 % ethanol). After that, the anti-skin photoaging effects of the 60 % ethanol extracts of the six Paeonia cultivars flowers were evaluated by UVR-Fulkutis and UVA-Fibroblasts photoaging models. Under exposure to UV radiation, some Paeonia flowers’ extracts can prevent the decrease of skin surface thickness and reduce the loss of Collagen IV and VII. In addition, the production and accumulation of ROS, MMP-1 and MMP-3 in fibroblasts were inhibited, indicating the attenuation of skin photoaging by the extracts. Among the six samples tested, ‘Hei Tian E’ whole flower extract (BH-HT) had the best comprehensive effect. Finally, the correlations between components and anti-photoaging efficacy were analyzed. We speculate that the anti-photoaging effect was significantly related to its richness in quercetin 3-O-di-glucoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, isorhamnetin 3-O-galloyl arabinoside, cyanidin 3,5-di-O-glucoside, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, and peonidin 3-O-glucoside. In general, the results show that Paeonia flowers have potential for development of anti-photoaging herbal essence products.

芍药属是一种重要的观赏和药用作物。芍药花富含类黄酮，类黄酮具有极好的抗氧化和抗炎活性，具有延缓皮肤衰老的潜力。在这项研究中，来自六种流行的芍药花全花的黄酮类化合物使用三种不同的溶剂提取品种。采用高效液相色谱四极杆飞行时间质谱/质谱(HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS)和HPLC-二极管阵列检测器(DAD)测定三种溶剂提取的牡丹花黄酮的组成和含量. 共分离鉴定出26种黄酮类化合物，其中60%乙醇提取效率最高。不同牡丹花中黄酮类化合物的组成和含量均有显着差异，其中'黑天娥'的成分最丰富（17种黄酮类化合物），黄酮类化合物总含量最高（57.75 mg / g DW，使用60％乙醇). 之后，六种芍药的60%乙醇提取物的抗皮肤光老化作用通过 UVR-Fulkutis 和 UVA-Fibroblasts 光老化模型对栽培品种的花进行了评估。在紫外线辐射下，一些芍药花的提取物可以防止皮肤表面厚度的减少，减少胶原蛋白 IV 和 VII 的流失。此外，成纤维细胞中 ROS、MMP-1 和 MMP-3 的产生和积累受到抑制，表明提取物可减轻皮肤光老化。在所测试的六个样品中，'黑天鹅'全花提取物（BH-HT）的综合效果最好。最后分析了成分与抗光老化功效的相关性。我们推测其抗光老化作用与其富含槲皮素3- O-二葡萄糖苷、槲皮素3- O-葡萄糖苷、异鼠李素3-显着相关。O-没食子酰阿拉伯糖苷、矢车菊3,5-二-O-葡糖苷、矢车菊3- O-葡糖苷、芍药苷3- O-葡糖苷。总的来说，结果表明芍药花具有开发抗光老化草本精华产品的潜力。