Abstract
Rhodiola, especially Rhodiola crenulate and Rhodiola rosea, is an increasingly widely used traditional medicine or dietary supplement in Asian and western countries. Because of the phytochemical diversity and difference of therapeutic efficacy among Rhodiola species, it is crucial to accurately identify them. In this study, a simple and efficient method of the classification of Rhodiola crenulate, Rhodiola rosea, and their confusable species (Rhodiola serrata, Rhodiola yunnanensis, Rhodiola kirilowii and Rhodiola fastigiate) was established by UHPLC fingerprints combined with chemical pattern recognition analysis. The results showed that similarity analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) could not achieve accurate classification among the six Rhodiola species. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) combined with stepwise feature selection exhibited effective discrimination. Seven characteristic peaks that are responsible for accurate classification were selected, and their distinguishing ability was successfully verified by partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), respectively. Finally, the components of these seven characteristic peaks were identified as 1-(2-Hydroxy-2-methylbutanoate) β-D-glucopyranose, 4-O-glucosyl-p-coumaric acid, salidroside, epigallocatechin, 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloyglucose, epigallocatechin gallate, and (+)-isolarisiresinol-4′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside or (+)-isolarisiresinol-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, respectively. The results obtained in our study provided useful information for authenticity identification and classification of Rhodiola species.
Highlights
Rhodiola fastigata is used for dissipating blood stasis, detumescence, and trauma; Rhodiola yunnanensis is used in detumescence, rheumatism, ostalgia, mastitis, furuncle, and open fracture [7]
Other Rhodiola species such as Rhodiola serrata, Rhodiola yunnanensis, Rhodiola kirilowii, and Rhodiola fastigiate have been sold as Rhodiola crenulate or Rhodiola rosea in the market [8,9], while different species of Rhodiola possess different pharmacological activities
The results showed that the samples could not be accurately classified into the right clusters by similarity evaluation and principal component analysis (PCA)
Summary
Many species of Rhodiola have been used as traditional medicines or dietary supplements in Asia, Europe, and the United States to improve overall health. Rhodiola crenulate is the only official species recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, its root and rhizome are widely used in Tibetan medicine and traditional Chinese medicine for its observable effects, such as acute mountain sickness and fatigue resistance [2,3]. Rhodiola rosea is a commonly used species in western countries and is present in the market as a dietary supplement with antifatigue, antistress, and antidepressant properties [4,5]. Rhodiola kirilowii is recorded in the standardization of traditional Chinese medicine in Gansu province for hemostasis, alleviating pain, trauma, irregular menstruation, and dysentery [6]. The morphologies of different species of commercial Rhodiola samples are too similar to distinguish visually [10]
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