Characterization of Farfarae Flos by Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting and Chemometrics

Abstract

Alcohol soluble extractive values play an important role in the quality evaluation of herbal drugs. Farfarae Flos were collected from four locations in this study, and their alcohol soluble extractives were compared systematically. The values were determined according to the procedures described in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and the chemical compositions of alcohol soluble extractives were compared by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) fingerprinting approach combined with the multivariate analysis. A principal component analysis biplot showed better discrimination and revealed the contribution of each variable to the clustering model. Material from Zhangjiakou contained higher concentrations of tussilagone and tussilagonone, while Qinxian samples contained more chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, rutin, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid. This study demonstrates that the alcohol soluble extractives of Farfarae Flos may be used to trace its cultivation locations.