| Abstract: | Quality control and consistent quality are prerequisites to guarantee the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical preparations and dietary supplements. In this paper, the intra- and inter-annual consistency and stability of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels, cultivated according to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in the main production areas of China, were evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatographic fingerprints composed of twenty-four common components. Subsequently, thirteen compounds were identified in the chromatograms using diode array detection and mass spectrometry. Z-Ligustilide, senkyunolide H, senkyunolide I, and ferulic acid were determined to evaluate the distribution of chemical components. In addition, robust principal component analysis was applied to further evaluate the samples, and four discriminatory “markers” among the common twenty-four were pinpointed by the loading plots that were used to distinguish quality differences of Angelica sinensis from different harvest years. |
