Entire industrial chain botanical origin authenticity control of ginseng formula granule products using simple PCR-based identification

Abstract

Ginseng formula granule is derived from the root of P. ginseng, and is one of the most important Chinese industrial herbal products. Discriminating between P. ginseng and its closely-related substitutes, P. quinquefolius (American ginseng) and P. notoginseng (Notoginseng) in formula granule is a critical issue in the ginseng industrial chain. The industrial chain begins with the ginseng crop, which undergoes a series of herbal preparation procedures—processing, extraction, concentration, desiccation, and granulation. During these processes, morphological appearances and microscopic characteristics are destroyed, and phytochemical profiles vary greatly by extract manipulation, formulation process, and storage conditions. Therefore, a uniform authenticity control method is necessary for the critical stages in the entire industrial formula granule production process. In this study, a simple allele-specific identification method was established for uniform botanical origin authenticity control of ginseng drugs, extracts, and formula granule. P. ginseng-specific primers and non-P. ginseng–specific primers from high copy number 18S rDNA were employed for ginseng authenticity identification. They were used to generate 166 bp fragments from the original plant, crude drug, extract, and formula granule. The method was capable not only of distinguishing P. ginseng from related species, but also of detecting adulterants in ginseng products. This study applies a uniform DNA marker and techniques for quality control in the entire ginseng granule industrial chain.