ABSTRACT
Objective: To establish fingerprints of Euodiae Fructus in different years by UPLC, analyze them with chemical pattern recognition technology, and determine the content of four quality difference markers, so as to provide new ideas for the research of Euodiae Fructus “Chen Jiuzhiliang” and provide basis for its quality evaluation. Methods: The fingerprints of Euodiae Fructus samples in three different years were established based on UPLC method. The similarity was calculated by the Similarity Evaluation System of Chromatographic Fingerprints of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2012A edition), and the pattern recognition was carried out by principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Results: UPLC fingerprints of 47 batches of Euodiae Fructus samples (similarity > 0.997) were established, 40 common peaks were identified and 12 of them were identified. PCA and OPLS-DA analysis were used to effectively distinguish three different years of Euodiae Fructus. A total of 22 quality differential markers were screened, and the content of neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, evodiamine and rutaecarpine were determined. Conclusion: The combination of UPLC fingerprint of Euodiae Fructus and multi-component chemical pattern recognition technology can effectively distinguish Euodiae Fructus in different years and provide reference for “the older, the better” and quality control of Euodiae Fructus.