Abstract: Three pieces of fresh bark from Phellodendron chinense Schneid. were collected. Each piece was longitudinally cut into four equal parts. One part was used as the control, and the other three parts were processed into fresh silk, dried medicinal material, and traditional silk using different methods. Metabolomic analysis was performed to analyze the effects of sample source and processing method on Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex. The results showed that the sample source had a greater influence on the metabolic profile of Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex than the processing method, whereas the processing method had a greater impact on the differential metabolites than the sample source. After processing the fresh bark, a total of 14 alkaloids were identified as differential metabolites. Their contents increased significantly during the processing stage from fresh bark to fresh silk and from fresh bark to dried medicinal material, but no significant change was observed from dried medicinal material to traditional silk. Additionally, there was no significant difference in the content of differential metabolites between fresh silk and traditional silk. The factors influencing the differential metabolites of Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex could be ranked by importance in descending order as follows: Preliminary drying, sample source, and subsequent drying and processing. Therefore, in the production of Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex silk, the key to quality control lay in the preliminary drying stage, followed by the classification and grading of raw material sources, with the subsequent drying and processing stage being the least critical.

Key words: Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex, sample source, processing method, processing process, quality