A simple and effective method for identification of Fraxini Cortex from different sources by multi-mode fingerprint combined with chemometrics.

Fraxini Cortex has a long history of being used as a medicinal plant in traditional Chinese medicine. However, it is challenging to differentiate and make quality evaluations for Fraxini Cortex from different origins due to their similarities in morphological features, as well as general chemical composition using traditional chemical analytical methods. In this study, a simple and effective method was developed to identify Fraxini Cortex from different origins by multi-mode fingerprint combined with chemometrics. Digital images of the high performance thin layer chromatography profiles were converted to grayscale intensity, and the common patterns of high performance thin layer chromatography fingerprints were genterated with ChemPattern software. Authentication and quality assessment were analyzed by similarity analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance. The ultra high performance liquid chromatography fingerprints were analyzed by similarity analysis, principal component analysis, orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis. When combined with chemometrics, high performance thin layer chromatography and ultra high performance liquid chromatography fingerprint provided a simple and effective method to evaluate the comprehensive quality of Fraxini Cortex, and to distinguish its two original medicinal materials (F. chinensis Roxb. and F. rhynchophylla Hance.) recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopeia and its three adulterants (F. mandschurica Rupr., F. pennsylvanica Marsh., and Juglans mandshurica Maxim.). A similar workflow may be applied to establish differentiation method for other medicinal and economic plants. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.