ABSTRACT
Objective To establish a quantitative analysis of multi-components with single marker (QAMS) for the simultaneous determination of chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenin acid, caffeic acid, hyperoside, isoquercitrin, astragalin, kaempferol in crude and processed Cuscuta australis, which is proved to be a scientific and feasible method in the quality analysis in C. australis. Methods Six relative correction factors (RCFs) of chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenin acid, caffeic acid, isoquercitrin, astragalin, kaempferol was established in the HPLC method with the hyperoside as the internal standard (IS), which was to calculate the mass fraction of each. The mass fraction of seven effective constituents in crude and processed C. australis was calculated by the external standard method (ESM) at the same time. Compared with the content results determined by the ESM and QAMS, the feasibility and accuracy of QAMS method were verified. Results The relative correction factor (RCF) was perfect. The detection calculated by QAMS was consistent with the results by ESM. Conclusion The method with a single marker, using the hyperoside as IS, is accurate and feasible for the quantitative analysis of six other effective constituents in C. australis.
ABSTRACT
Objective Using authentic raw herbal materials is fundamental to herbal medicine quality. Cuscuta chinensis and C. australis are two important species of Cuscutae Semen recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Due to having tiny bodies of seeds, it is extremely difficult to differentiate them from adulterants and closely related species by morphologic characteristics, leading to serious safety problems. Methods In this study, we developed a fast and efficient method to identify Cuscutae Semen on the market. First, a total of 207 ITS2 sequences representing 45 related species of Cuscutae Semen were collected to construct a standard DNA barcode database, then 33 commercial samples purchased from markets were analyzed by BLAST, and Neighbor-joining tree was used to verify the efficacy of the database. Results The percentage of counterfeits and adulterants in the 33 commercial samples were up to 69.7%, and only 10 commercial products were found to be genuine. The adulterated species included 11 species (Amaranthus hybridus, Brassica carinata, Brassica juncea var. megarrhiza, Chenopodium album, Corispermum heptapotamicum, Cuscuta alata, Cuscuta japonica, Cuscuta monogyna, Foeniculum vulgare, Glycine max, and Medicago sativa). Conclusion DNA barcoding is a fast and efficient method to identify Cuscutae Semen on the market.