Fingerprint system of Chinese medicinal materials / 中草药

ABSTRACT

A novel fingerprint system of Chinese medicinal materials employing both DNA and chemical means has been proposed. To establish the fingerprint system is very effective to the quality control of Chinese medicinal materials, because it will be controlled from chemical substance and genetic information. The chemical components and DNA fingerprints will show the complex chemical components and biological source, respectively. DNA fingerprint could give a further proof to distinguish Chinese materia medica from the chemical. The combination of chemical and DNA fingerprints is constructive to quality control of Chinese materia medica, the cultivar identification and the selective breed of good varieties for medicinal use. To carry out the fingerprint system of Chinese medicinal materials, it is necessary to establish fingerprint database of Chinese medicinal materials, including chemical and DNA fingerprint, as well as many detection methods, and the pattern recognition system by computer is also necessary.