ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Pseudostellaria Radix, due to its sketchy description and individual difference during the odor evaluation, fails to come to researchers' attention. To analyze the odor of the Pseudostellaria Radix samples from different habitat processing methods and areas, and apply electronic nose technology to creating a new method for the determination of Pseudostellaria Radix. METHODS: According to the response values obtained by using electronic nose technology, two multivariate statistical methods to the data to distinguish the samples collected from different areas and habitat processing methods were applied. From the aspect of response values, the sunned Pseudostellaria Radix after boiling get lower values than the sunned ones, while the values of the samples from different producing origins vary very slightly. RESULTS: The results of the multivariate statistical methods show that principal component analysis (PCA) can differ the sunned samples from the sunned ones after boiling. With regard to the sunned ones after boiling, there is no significant difference among the three boiling time groups from 30 s to 120 s. While the two discrimination models constructed during the discriminant factor analysis (DFA) have respectively favorable identification ability in habitat processing methods and producing areas. CONCLUSION: The electronic nose technology can be used to express the odor of Pseudostellaria Radix, and in combination with multivariate statistical methods, it can differentiate Pseudostellaria Radix from different areas and habitat processing methods.