A Schisandra chinensis and Schisandra sphenanthera were distinguished by the score plots of PC3 vs. PC1 of principal component analysis (PCA) of the near infrared (NIR) spectra. The four producing districts of Schisandra chinensis were also distinguished by the score plots of PC1 vs. PC2 of NIR data. The concentrations of Schisandrin and Schisantherin A in the Schisandra chinensis and Schisandra sphenanthera, using values measured by the HPLC method as the reference values were predicted from the NIR data by multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis. The coefficient of determination between the value of Schisandrin and Schisantherin A by HPLC method and the NIR predicted value were r2 = 0.885 and r2 = 0.942, respectively. This result shows that the concentration of Schisandrin and Schisantherin A could be easily, rapidly and nondestructively determined by NIR spectroscopy combined with MLR analysis.
