Origin identification on the commercial samples of Aurantii Fructus

A total of 50 commercial samples of Aurantii Fructus, originating from Poncitrus trifoliata for Aurantii Fructus Immaturus, Citrus aurantium, and C. wilsonii for Aurantii Fructus Maturus, respectively, were collected from Taiwan and China herbal markets. Contents of the constituents in the samples were determined within 60 min using a developed HPLC method, which had been validated in terms of precision, repeatability, and accuracy. The results of the analyses showed that the constituents were closely related to the species and also the degree of maturity of the fruits, especially in the case of hesperidin (HE), naringin (NG), neohesperidin (NE), naringenin-7-glucoside (NGC), narirutin (NR), and quercetin (QU). The mature fruits (C. aurantium and C. wilsonii) contained chiefly NG, HE, and NE and the immature ones (P. trifoliata) had NG, NR, and QU majorly. Within the mature samples, the ratios of HE/NE and NGC/NE values were higher than 2.94 and 0.21 in C. aurantium and lower than 1.31 and 0.02 in C. wilsonii, respectively. A flowchart that is useful for identifying Aurantii Fractus was devised, based on the various chemical identification methods.     

基于化学模式识别技术的枳实HPLC定量指纹图谱研究

建立了枳实的高效液相色谱(HPLC)指纹图谱分析方法。色谱柱为Tnature-ACCHROM C18色谱柱(4.6 mm×250 mm,5μm);以乙腈-0.5%甲酸水溶液为流动相进行梯度洗脱,结合液相色谱-四极杆飞行时间质谱(HPLC-QTOF-MS)联用技术对枳实指纹图谱中的共有峰进行鉴定;采用相似度评价、聚类分析(CA)、主成分分析(PCA)和正交偏最小二乘判别分析(OPLS-DA)对22批枳实进行数据分析及质量评价。结果显示:指纹图谱共标定12个共有峰,HPLC-QTOF-MS分析指认出11个成分;22批枳实样品的相似度在0.9以上;CA、PCA和OPLS-DA的分析结果一致,其中江西产地聚为一类,湖南和福建产地聚为一类,并筛选出橙皮苷、新橙皮苷和柚皮苷3个差异性质量标志物。所建立的枳实HPLC指纹图谱方法稳定、可靠,可为其质量控制提供参考依据。     

Discrimination of Chinese traditional soy sauces based on their physico-chemical properties

This work aimed to classify the categories (produced by different processes) and brands (obtained from different geographical origins) of Chinese soy sauces. Nine variables of physico-chemical properties (density, pH, dry matter, ashes, electric conductivity, amino nitrogen, salt, viscosity and total acidity) of 53 soy sauce samples were measured. The measured data was submitted to such pattern recognition as cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), discrimination partial least squares (DPLS), linear discrimination analysis (LDA) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) to evaluate the data patterns and the possibility of differentiating Chinese soy sauces between different categories and brands. Two clusters corresponding to the two categories were obtained, and each cluster was divided into three subsets corresponding to three brands by the CA method. The variables for LDA and KNN were selected by the Fisher F-ratio approach. The prediction ability of all classifiers was evaluated by cross-validation. For the three supervised discrimination analyses, LDA and KNN gave 100% predications according to the sample category and brand.     

Quantitative analysis of multicomponents by single marker combined with HPLC fingerprint qualitative analyses for comprehensive evaluation of Aurantii Fructus

The present study aimed to develop a strategy involving quantitative analysis of multicomponents by single marker in combination with high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprint qualitative analysis for performing the quality control of Aurantii Fructus. The content of 12 components (eriocitrin, neoeriocitrin, narirutin, naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, meranzin, poncirin, naringenin, nobiletin, tangeretin, and auraptene) in samples was determined using reliable relative correction factors that were obtained using naringin as an internal reference standard. The new method demonstrated good applicability, and no significant differences were observed between the external standard method and the new method as determined by calculating standard method difference. Qualitative evaluation of samples was conducted using similarity analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and quality fluctuation analysis. Chromatographic fingerprint data were divided into three groups by similarity and hierarchical cluster analyses, and seven components may have a more significant impact on the quality of Aurantii Fructus in quality fluctuation analysis. Overall, the study suggests that the qualitative and quantitative analyses of multicomponents using quantitative analysis of multicomponents by single marker combined with chromatographic fingerprinting can be considered good quality criteria for performing quality control and providing technical support for the further pharmacological and pharmaceutical research of Aurantii Fructus.     

Use of TLC and UV–Visible Spectrometry for Fingerprinting of Dietary Supplements

We have studied dietary supplements containing sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), and cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) by use of thin-layer chromatography (TLC), image analysis, and UV–visible spectroscopy. The results were subjected to multivariate techniques, for example cluster analysis (CA), principal-components analysis (PCA), and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Evaluation of the discriminating power of TLC coupled with digital image analysis for characterization of the supplements was performed by use of chemometrics. Zero-order, first-order, and normalized zero-order UV–visible spectra of extracts of fruit and dietary supplements were digitized and used in the chemometric analysis. To increase the relevance of the study, the dietary supplement extracts were compared with extracts of the natural fruit. Results obtained by application of CA, PCA, and PCA–LDA to the chromatograms suggest the possibility of discrimination among dietary supplements on the basis of the raw material used for their preparation.

     

Molecularly imprinted polymers for selective extraction of synephrine from Aurantii Fructus Immaturus

In this work, molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) has been used to selectively enrich, purify, or remove synephrine from Aurantii Fructus Immaturus. To this end, a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was prepared by self-assembly from the template synephrine, the functional monomer methacrylic acid, and the crosslinker ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in 1:4:20 molar ratio. Subsequent molecular interrogation of the MIP binding sites revealed preferential structural selectivity for synephrine relative to other structurally related naturally occurring compounds (i.e. octopamine and tyramine ). This selectivity was subsequently exploited to achieve substantial sample clean-up of extracts of crude Aurantii Fructus Immaturus and Aurantii Fructus Immaturus stir-baked with bran. The purity of synephrine in the extracts after MISPE represented approximately 24.21-fold enrichment of the synephrine in the untreated extracts of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus stir-baked with bran. High recoveries (85–90%) from the samples proved that the method was valid for selective enrichment, purification, or removal of synephrine from Aurantii Fructus Immaturus.     

Application of multivariate methods to scalp hair metal data to distinguish between drug-free subjects and drug abusers

Human scalp hair samples of drug-free subjects and drug abusers (heroin and cocaine-heroin abusers) were analysed for trace metals by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), flame atomic emission spectrometry (FAES) and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The classification of drug-free subjects and drug abuses groups with four multivariate methods using the metal contents in hair samples as discriminant variables has been discussed. Principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA) allow distinguishing the two groups correctly. However, predictions by SIMCA are less satisfactory. Thirteen elements (Ag, Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were determined by FAAS/FAES/ETAAS in 53 hair samples (16 samples of drug-free people and 37 samples of drug abusers). Human hair samples were prepared as aqueous slurries as sample pre-treatment and they were analysed using the slurry sampling technique. The half-range central value transformation was novelty used as data pre-treatment to homogenise the data. Grouping in the samples (drug-free people and drug abusers) were observed by using PCA and CA (squared Euclidean distance between objects and Ward method as clustering procedure). The application of LDA gave a correct recognition assignation percentage of 91.7 and 100.0% for the drug-free people and drug abusers, respectively, at a significance of 5%, while SIMCA offered recognition percentages of 83.3 and 91.3% for drug-free people and drug abusers, respectively, also at 5%. Finally, some studies were developed to classify heroin abusers and polidrug abusers (cocaine-heroin abusers) by the cited multivariate statistical methods. Recognition percentages of 90.9 and 100.0% were reached for heroin abusers and polidrug abusers groups, respectively, after LDA, while these percentages decreased to percentages lower than 90.0% when SIMCA was applied.     

Comprehensive quality evaluation of Fructus Schisandrae using electrospray ionization ion trap multiple-stage tandem mass spectrometry coupled with chemical pattern recognition techniques

Electrospray ionization ion trap multiple-stage tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(n)) was used to evaluate Fructus Schisandrae of similar species (Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. fruits and Schisandra sphenanthera Rehd. et Wils. fruits) and different growth characteristics (color, shape, etc.). The application of chemical pattern recognition in the ESI-MS(n) data analysis was carried out by principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Then the antioxidant activity of different Fructus Schisandrae samples were determined by an LC-ESI-MS method and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Using the ESI-MS(n) method coupled with chemical pattern recognition analysis and correlated with the antioxidant activity evaluation, the two similar species were successfully distinguished, thus improving the therapeutic safety and effectiveness. The superior characteristics of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. fruits were obtained and made the selection and breeding of Chinese medicine materials more scientific. This study indicates that ESI-MS(n) is a valuable tool for the authentication of botanical origin and can also be useful for the quality control of Chinese medicinal herbs.     

高效液相色谱-质谱法及模式识别法用于鉴别普洱生茶与熟茶

采用高效液相色谱-质谱联用技术及高效液相色谱法对生熟普洱茶中的主要成分进行定性和定量分析。鉴定出普洱茶水溶液中8种主要成分,分别为没食子酸(GA)、没食子酸儿茶素(GC)、表没食子酸儿茶素(EGC)、儿茶素(C)、咖啡因(CAF)、表儿茶素(EC)、表没食子酸儿茶素没食子酸酯(EGCG)和表儿茶素没食子酸酯(ECG)。以这8种成分的含量为指标,对普洱生茶和熟茶各20批进行主成分分析、聚类分析和判别分析,能准确地区分普洱生茶与熟茶。     

反相高效液相法测定枳实、枳壳中橙皮甙和柚皮甙的含量

 采用高效液相法测定了枳实和枳壳中的橙皮甙和柚皮甙含量。柱为HypersilODS1柱(250mm×4 6mmi d ),流动相为乙腈 0 5%乙酸溶液(体积比为22∶78),流速为1 0mL/min,检测波长为283nm。柚皮甙和橙皮甙的线性范围分别为0 060g/L～0 604g/L和0 0125g/L～0 125g/L,柚皮甙和橙皮甙的平均回收率分别为97 1%和95 3%。该方法具有操作简便、分析快速、准确等优点。     

HPLC Fingerprint with Multi-components Analysis for Quality Consistency Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Si-Mo-Tang Oral Liquid Preparation

Si-Mo-Tang(SMT) oral liquid preparation, a traditional Chinese medicine, was prepared from four crude herbal drugs, Fructus Aurantii Submaturus, Radix Aucklandiae, Semen Arecae and Radix Linderae Aggregatae. A combinative method using HPLC fingerprint and quantitative analysis was developed and validated for quality consistency evaluation of SMT. Individual HPLC chromatograms were evaluated against the mean chromatogram generated via a similarity evaluation computer program. Data from chromatographic fingerprints were also processed with principal component analysis(PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA). Additionally, six components (naringin, isonaringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, norisoboldine and potassium sorbate) in SMT were simultaneously determined to interpret the quality consistency. For fingerprint analysis, 20 peaks were selected as the characteristic peaks to evaluate the similarities of 26 SMT collected from different manufacturers. Among the 20 characteristic peaks, 10 peaks were assigned to be naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, isonaringin, neoeriocitrin, tangeretin, nobiletin, norisoboldine, 5-(ethoxymethyl)furan-2-carbaldehyde and potassium sorbate, respectively. The results of similarity analysis, PCA and HCA, indicate that the samples from different manufacturers were consistent with each other in composition. The results from the quantitative data show that the contents of six compounds were significantly different in SMT oral liquid preparations from different manufacturers. The combinative method of chromatographic fingerprint with quantitative analysis developed here offered an efficient way for the quality consistency evaluation of the traditional Chinese medicine SMT.     

Rapid classification of White Oak (Quercus alba) and Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) by using pyrolysis direct analysis in real time (DART™) and time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Thirty-four samples of Red Oak (Quercus rubra) and fifty samples of White Oak (Quercus alba) were analyzed by pyrolytic direct analysis in real time (DART) ionization coupled with time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. Although significant differences were not observed in the positive-ion mass spectra, the negative-ion mass spectra showed clear differences. Principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were calculated for the relative abundances of 11 peaks in the negative-ion mass spectra including peaks tentatively assigned as representing deprotonated acetic, malic, gallic, dimethoxycinnamic, and ellagic acids. Leave one out cross validation (LOOCV) was 100% successful in classifying the samples for both PCA and LDA.     

Forensic classification of ballpoint pen inks using high performance liquid chromatography and infrared spectroscopy with principal components analysis and linear discriminant analysis

Several varieties of blue ballpoint pen inks were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and infrared spectroscopy (IR). The chromatographic data extracted at four wavelengths (254, 279, 370 and 400 nm) was analyzed individually and at a combination of these wavelengths by the soft independent modeling of class analogies (SIMCA) technique using principal components analysis (PCA) to estimate the separation between the pen samples. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) measured the probability with which an observation could be assigned to a pen class. The best resolution was obtained by HPLC using data from all four wavelengths together, differentiating 96.4% pen pairs successfully using PCA and 97.9% pen samples by LDA. PCA separated 60.7% of the pen pairs and LDA provided a correct classification of 62.5% of the pens analyzed by IR. The results of this study indicate that HPLC coupled with chemometrics provided a better discrimination of ballpoint pen inks compared to IR. The need to develop a suitable IR method for analysing blue ballpoint pen inks has been emphasized and it is hoped that the development of such a method would indeed provide a valuable tool for the non-destructive analysis of blue ballpoint pen ink samples for forensic purposes.     

Heavy-metal distribution in river waters and sediments around a "firefly village", Shikoku, Japan: application of multivariate analysis.

River water and sediment samples were collected at the same site in a vicinity of an abandoned mine, and the concentrations of major elements and heavy metals were determined. The chemical correlations were observed by principal component analysis (PCA), and the samples were classified by cluster analysis (CA) based on the PCA scores. The PCA results presented a macroscopic viewpoint of covariance structure, i.e., the chemical elements could be classified into three groups: 1) major elements and heavy metals in the river water, 2) Cd, Fe and Mn in the sediments, and 3) Cu and Zn in the sediments. The CA results implied a similarity of chemical compositions in most parts of the study area, except the ranges close to the abandoned copper mine. At the mixing location of mining water with natural river water, major elements and cadmium showed simple physical mixing (conservative mixing). Other heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) showed the massive precipitation at the mixing event. The PCA structure was mainly interpreted in terms of the mixing process between mining water and diluted natural river water.     

表面解吸常压化学电离质谱法快速判别樟树化学型

采用表面解吸常压化学电离质谱(SDAPCI-MS)技术直接对5种化学型的樟树叶粉末片剂进行分析,获得其化学指纹谱图信息.采用主成分分析(PCA)、聚类分析(CA)和反向传输人工神经网络(BP-ANN)对谱图信息进行分析,获得各化学型樟树叶粉末片剂的特征质谱信息,进而对不同化学型样品进行判别.结果表明,在正离子模式下,SDAPCI-MS能快速获取樟树的化学指纹谱图;PCA分析中的PC1,PC2和PC3贡献率分别为79.9%,12.9%和4.2%,共计97.0%.SDAPCI-MS结合CA和BP-ANN测试样本准确率均为100%,能够快速、有效地判别出樟树化学型.     

Multivariate analysis approach to the plasma protein profile of patients with advanced colorectal cancer

The aim of the present study was to identify the pattern of plasma protein species of interest as markers of colorectal cancer (CRC). Using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), the plasma protein profile was determined in nine stage IV CRC patients (study group) and nine clean-colon healthy subjects (control group). Multivariate analysis methods were employed to identify distinctive disease patterns at protein spectrum. In the study and control groups, cluster analysis (CA) on the complete MALDI-MS spectra plasma protein profile showed a distinction between CRC patients and healthy subjects, thus allowing the identification of the most discriminating ionic species. Principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) yielded similar grouping results. LDA with leave-one-out cross validation achieved a correct classification rate of 89% in both the patients and the healthy subjects.     

Combining visible and near-infrared spectroscopy with chemometrics to trace muscles from an autochthonous breed of pig produced in Uruguay: a feasibility study

Visible (Vis) and near-infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was explored as a tool to trace muscles from autochthonous and crossbreed pigs from Uruguay. Muscles were sourced from two breeds, namely, the Pampa-Rocha (PR) and the Pampa-Rocha x Duroc (PRxD) crossbreed. Minced muscles were scanned in the Vis and NIR regions (400–2,500 nm) in a monochromator instrument in reflectance. Principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant partial least square regression (DPLS), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) based on PCA scores and soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA) were used to identify the origin of the muscles based on Vis and NIR data. Full cross validation was used as validation method when classification models were developed. DPLS correctly classified 87% of PR and 78% of PRxD muscle samples. LDA calibration models correctly classified 87 and 67% of muscles as PR and PRxD, respectively. SIMCA correctly classified 100% of PR muscles. The results demonstrated the usefulness of Vis and NIR spectra combined with chemometrics as rapid method for authentication and identification of muscles according to the breed of pig.