Article ID: b16-00210
Phellodendri Cortex is derived from the dried barks of Phellodendron genus species, has been extensively used in traditional Chinese medicine. The cortex is divided into two odorless crude drugs Guanhuangbo and Huangbo. Historically, it has been difficult to distinguish their identities due to a lack of identification methods. This study was executed to confirm the identity and to ensure the species traceability of Phellodendri Cortex. In the current study, ananalys is based on the ITS (internal transcribed spacer) and psbA-trnH intergenic spacer (psbA-trnH) barcodes and HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatographic) fingerprinting was carried out to guarantee the species traceability of Guanhuangbo and Huangbo. DNA barcoding data successfully identified the three plants of the Phellodendron genus species by ITS+psbA-trnH, with the ability to distinguish the species origin of Huangbo. Moreover, the psbA-trnH data distinguished Guanhuangbo and Huangbo except to trace species. The HPLC fingerprint data showed that Guanhuangbo was clearly different from Huangbo, but there was no difference between the two origins of Huangbo. Additionally, the result of HCA (hierarchical clustering analysis), based on chlorogenic acid, phellodendrine, magnoflorine, jatrorrhizine, palmatine and berberine, was consistent with the HPLC fingerprint analysis. These results show that DNA barcoding and HPLC fingerprinting can discriminate Guanhuangbo and Huangbo. However, DNA barcoding is more powerful than HPLC fingerprinting for species traceability in the identification of related species that are genetically similar. DNA barcoding is a useful scientific tool to accurately confirm the identities of medicinal materials from multiple sources.
