Qualitative and quantitative identification of Vitex negundo var. cannabifolia fruits and Vitex negundo fruits / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To provide experimental basis for the identification of Vitex negundo var. cannabifolia fruits and V. negundo fruits by comparative study. Methods The original plant identification, morphological identification, microscopic identification, TLC and HPLC identification were adopted to distinguish the two kinds of materials. Results It is difficult to tell the difference of these two medicinal fruits in term of original plant identification and morphological identification to their similarity, while microscopic identification, TLC and HPLC identification revealed that the characteristics of sclereid could be used to distinguish these two fruits. Conclusion Microscopic identification on the sclereid characteristics of fruits powder, combined with TLC and HPLC identification can be the feasible method that used to distinguish V. negundo fruits and V. negundo var. cannabifolia fruits.