Analysis on Compositional Changes during Processing Process of Nine Processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)Based on HPLC Fingerprint Spectrum Combined with Multivariate Statistical Analysis
Objective To establish the HPLC fingerprints and multi-component content determination methods of three differ-ent batches of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)samples and evaluate the quality differences of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)in combination with chemical pattern recognition analysis.Methods The fingerprint profiles of different batches of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)were established by high performance liquid chromatogra-phy(HPLC)and the contents of five components were determined.The differences in the quality of different batches of nine pro-cessed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)were evaluated by similarity analysis,principal component analysis(PC A)and least partial squares-discriminant analysis(PLS-DA)to find out the dynamic changes of the components during the concoction process.Results The HPLC fingerprints of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)were established,26 shared peaks were identified,and five of the components,namely,hydroxy tyrosol(peak 9),salidroside(peak 10),specnuezhenide(peak 19),li-gustroside G13(peak 24)and oleonuezhenide(peak 25),were identified,with significant changes in contents.The results of the methodological investigation showed that the linearity of the components was good(r ≥0.990),and the average recoveries ranged from 99.90%to 103.19%.The fingerprint profiles of the 27 batches of samples were all similar to the control fingerprint profiles>0.953.The PC A results extracted four main components,and PLS-DA was able to distinguish three different batches of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)clearly,and based on the principle of variable importance in projection(VIP)>1 seven major differential components were screened out,and oleonuezhenide,ligustroside G13 and specnuezhenide were identified as the three chemical components with strong correlation to nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus).The quality of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)varied significantly among batches.Conclusion The established HPLC finger-printing method of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus)is simple and combined with the pattern recognition method can provide a reference for the quality evaluation of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus).The content showed dy-namic changes during the concoction process,with the overall trend of unchanged hydroxytyrosol,the overall trend of increased salidroside,and the overall trend of decreased ligustroside and oleonuezhenide.The fingerprints of Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus),combined with chemical pattern recognition method,not only provide reference for the quality of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus),but also can continue to explore the potential quality markers of nine processed Nyuzhenzi(Ligustri Licidi Fructus).