Quality Evaluation of Forsythiae Fructus Based on HPLC Fingerprint and QAMS Multi-Component Content Determination
OBJECTIVE To establish the HPLC fingerprint of Forsythiae Fructus and develop a multi-component quantitative analysis method based on quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker(QAMS).METHODS The fingerprints of 47 Forsythiae Fructus samples from four provinces,including Henan,Shandong,Shanxi and Shaanxi,were established by high perform-ance liquid chromatography(HPLC),while their similarity was evaluated.Chemical pattern recognition of Forsythiae Fructus was studied by hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA)and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA).The content of forsythoside B,forsythoside A,hyperin,arctiin,phillyrin and phillygenin were determined by using QAMS,and the differences of samples from different producing areas were analyzed.RESULTS The fingerprints of 47 Forsythiae Fructus samples were established with similarities ranged from 0.785 to 0.989,and a total of 30 common peaks were identified.According to HCA,the samples were divided into three groups.OPLS-DA analysis can effectively distinguish Forsythiae Fructus from several producing areas(Q2>0.5).There was no significant difference in the content of 6 components in 47 batches of samples by QAMS and external standard method(ESM)(P>0.05),but there was significant difference in the content of active components in samples from different origin(P<0.01).The average contents of forsythoside B,forsythoside A,hyperin,arctiin,phillyrin and phillygenin in samples from different provinces were,Henan(4.50、20.58、0.52、2.39、7.46、1.76 mg·g-1),Shandong(0.90,9.26、0.36、1.39、3.84、3.87 mg·g-1),Shanxi(0.82、8.74、0.29、1.16、2.64、1.75 mg·g-1),Shaanxi(5.18、55.10、0.88、3.36、13.11、9.25 mg·g-1).CONCLUSION The chemical composition of Forsythiae Fructus samples from different locations was similar,but the origin factors had a significant effect on the content of active ingredients,and the samples from Shaanxi province had the highest content.The HPLC fingerprint combined with the simultane-ous determination of multi-component content analysis method established in this study is stable and reliable.The fingerprint combined with the chemical pattern recognition can provide a basis for the identification of origins and quality evaluation of Forsythiae Fructus.