Fig. 3

Metabolic profiles across the groups. a PCA plot of the different sample groups (BP, BS, and PreHy) and quality control (QC) group. Each point represents a biological replicate. b Pathway analysis of differential metabolites. Each circle’s color and size of each circle are based on its P-values and pathway impact values, respectively. The larger the circle, the higher the impact factor, whereas the darker the color, the smaller the P-value, and the more significant the enrichment. The pathway with a lower P-value and a higher pathway impact factor indicates that it has high influence. c Differentially accumulated primary metabolites across different stages of O. sinensis. Metabolites were detected by LC-MS / MS. The data are presented as relative quantitative values of the peak area. Up-regulated metabolites are presented in red whereas down-regulated ones are shown in blue. d Relative contents of 11 fatty acids in the three stages