Abstract
Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG) is not just as a traditional herbal medicine but also a popular functional food in China and other Asian countries. A sensitive simple strategy was developed for the first time to analyze SBG from eight different geographical sources using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with multivariate chemometric methods. Two unsupervised pattern recognition models, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal components analysis (PCA), and a supervised pattern recognition model, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), were used to analyze the chemical compositions and physical traits of SBG. The important chemical markers baicalin, baicalein, and wogonoside were analyzed quantitatively and with PLS-DA. These methods distinguished rotten xylem (kuqin) and strip types (tiaoqin) of SBG and found that the thickness of the slice had a significant impact on the classification of SBG. Two classes of strip types were identified: one as the uncut pharmaceutical, which was sectioned with a thickness >3 mm; the other as a thin-sectioned strip type, with a thickness of <2 mm. This fingerprinting technique coupled to a chemometric analysis was used for the simultaneous quantitation of three components (chemical markers) of SBG, and greatly simplified the complicated identification of the multiple components of this plant relative to traditional methods. The strategy can clearly distinguish between kuqin and tiaoqin of SBG, and suggests that the thickness of the slice can be used as the basis for evaluation of SBG. These data provide a theoretical basis and scientific evidence for the development and utilization of SBG.
Highlights
There has been increasing interest in functional foods all over the world
The effect of slice thickness on the quality of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG) was studied and distinguished between rotten xylem and strip types in depth, which provided a scientific basis for the selection of high-quality medicinal materials for clinical safety and preparation of functional foods
The fingerprinting–chemical pattern recognition method applied in this study provides a more comprehensive analysis of the overall composition of SBG
Summary
There has been increasing interest in functional foods all over the world. As is known, the dried root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG) is increasingly being used, not just as a traditional herbal medicine, and a popular functional food in Asian countries [1,2]. In both ancient and modern times, SBG has been divided into two types, rotten xylem (kuqin) and strip types (tiaoqin), which are considered to exert different effects and have different functional indications. Chemometrics [22] uses statistical or mathematical methods to obtain useful information from the analysis and identification of chemical systems and to establish the relationships between the measured values of a chemical system and the state of that system It can provide a comprehensive series of analyses and recognition patterns, and resolve common problems in the fingerprints of natural samples [23]. The effect of slice thickness on the quality of SBG was studied and distinguished between rotten xylem (kuqin) and strip types (tiaoqin) in depth, which provided a scientific basis for the selection of high-quality medicinal materials for clinical safety and preparation of functional foods
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