Chrysanthemum has a long history of being used to attenuate various oxidative stress-related discomforts and diseases; however, its mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, the antioxidant effect of chrysanthemum aqueous extract was investigated, and the potential mechanisms were explored via a metabolomics study. Chrysanthemum extract could significantly inhibit hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-mediated cell death in L-O2 hepatocytes. Propidium iodide staining and annexin V-PI dual staining revealed that the antioxidant effect of chrysanthemum extract was related to the relief of cell cycle arrest and inhibition of non-apoptotic cell damage. The activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were also upregulated by chrysanthemum extract. Through metabolomics studies, it was found that chrysanthemum extract mainly targeted the arginine synthesis pathway and purine metabolism pathway, in which antioxidation-related endogenous substrates including L-arginosuccinate, citrulline and inositol monophosphate were significantly upregulated by chrysanthemum extract. These results indicated that chrysanthemum extract can antagonize oxidative stress through multiple pathways and have potential therapeutic applications.

In China, herbal drinks possess long-standing traditional cultural characteristics cater to consumers' demand for both natural ingredients and functional benefits. So far, the sensory properties of herbal beverages have not been subjected to descriptive analysis. Here, we selected 12 high-selling herbal beverages containing chrysanthemum samples on China's largest online shopping website. A total of 11 sensory descriptors have been associated with the samples, while assessed panel performance and sensory characteristics of samples by PanelCheck software. In addition, using ConsumerCheck to investigate the consumer acceptance of the same samples, applying preference mapping analysis to address the relationship between descriptive and consumer liking date. Box plot and Stacked histogram visualise the distributions of the liking ratings across all consumers for each of the tested products. Preference mapping revealed that the main sensory attributes driving consumers' preferences are fragrant sweet flavour, brillancy, lubrication, sweet taste and overly sweet taste. Thus, this study could guide the development of Chinese traditional chrysanthemum drink. At the same time, the results also provided a simple and open-source software to data statistical method for practitioner without commercial software and programming skills.