ABSTRACT
The commonly used traditional Chinese medicines Curcumae Rhizome (Ezhu) and Curcumae Radix (Yujin), are representatives of multi-plant sources. The relationship among the original source plant species is intricate. In this study, by using multivariate data analysis, volatile metabolites in rhizomes and radixes of source plants of Curcumae Longae rhizome (Jianghuang), Yujin and Ezhu in traditional Chinese medicine were compared and analyzed. The source plants included Curcuma longa, Curcuma kwangsuensis, Curcuma wenyujing and Curcuma phaeocaulis. The results indicated that:① volatile metabolites were similar in quality but variation in quantity for rhizomes and radixes origin from the same plant species; ② volatile metabolites of C. longa rhizomes showed bigger difference compared with others; ③ although common volatile metabolites were observed in rhizome of C. kwangsuensis, C. wenyujing and C. phaeocaulis, the difference among them were significant; and ④ significant differences were observed for the four kinds of radixes. Results in this study revealed the differences of the four source plants species, and similar metabolites in source plants of Curcumae Rhizome (Ezhu) and Curcumae Radix (Yujin) from the level of volatile metabolites. These results provided a reference for the clinical use of the three kinds of traditional Chinese medicine.