Analysis of the volatile components of Astragali Radix from different habitats by SPME-GC-MS combined with multivariate statistical analysis / 药学学报

ABSTRACT

"Beany flavor" is one of the important authentic characteristics of Astragali Radix. It is important to clarify the material basis of "Beany flavor" in the characterization of authentic medicinal materials and establishing quality control methods for authentic medicinal materials. At present, the analysis of volatile components in different habitats has been reported, but systematic comprehensive research has not been conducted. The SPME-GC-MS technique was used to analyze the volatile components of Astragali Radix from three producing areas: Shanxi (wild-simulated Astragali Radix), Gansu (cultivated Astragali Radix) and Inner Mongolia (cultivated Astragali Radix). Combined with the method of multivariate statistical analysis, the difference of volatile components of Astragali Radix from the three different producing areas is discussed. Multivariate statistical analysis and evaluation was conducted through principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Seventy-six volatile components of Astragali Radix from the three producing areas were identified by SPME-GC-MS. PCA model results showed that the volatile components correlated with their producing areas. PLS-DA demonstrated that the volatile components of Astragali Radix samples from different producing areas were significantly different. Six volatile substances including hexanoic acid, hexanal, 2-butyl-2-octenal, 1-hexanol, benzyl alcohol and 2-butylfuran were quantified. The ratio of hexanal to hexanoic acid in Astragali Radix from different areas and cultivation methods was significantly different: the ratio of hexanal: hexanoic acid in wild-simulated Astragali Radix of Shanxi was 7.8∶1, while the ratio of hexanal: hexanoic acid in cultivated Astragali Radix of Inner Mongolia and Gansu was 2.3∶1 and 0.96∶1, respectively. The volatile components identified in this study provide a foundation for continued research of and quality control of Astragali Radix.