A system-level investigation into the pharmacological mechanisms of flavor compounds in Maotai liquor

Abstract Maotai-flavor liquor, one of the world’s famous natural fermentation food product plays a significant role in traditional Chinese culture and people’s daily lives for a long time due to its good taste. However, the pharmacological activities of flavor compounds in Maotai liquor has not been fully elucidated. In answering this question, a system-level analysis was developed by combining in silico ADME evaluation, multi-target prediction, GO enrichment analysis, network pharmacology technology, pathway analysis, as well as experimental verification to elucidate the pharmacological effects of flavor compounds in Maotai liquor. Finally, 55 active compounds and 80 targets were identified to interpret the pharmacological effect of the flavor compounds. Moreover, the key active compounds was verified by in vitro experiments to validate the reliability of our approaches. Our study provides a novel integrated strategy to comprehensively understand the pharmacological activities of complex components in Maotai liquor.