Comparative Study on Morphological Features and Chemical Components of Wild and Cultivated <i>Angelica sinensis</i> Based on Bionic Technologies and Chemometrics

As a traditional Chinese medicine, <i>Angelica sinensis</i> is primarily sourced from cultivated plants due to the significant decline in wild resources. This shift raises concerns about potential differences in efficacy resulting from variations in morphological features and chemical composition between wild (WA) and cultivated (CA) <i>A. sinensis</i>. In this study, a suite of advanced analytical techniques including electronic nose, electronic tongue, and electronic eye, alongside headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography, was applied to compare the morphological features and chemical components of WA and CA. Furthermore, principal component analysis and partial least-squares discriminant were employed for data analysis. The morphological features and chemical components of WA and CA were compared and analyzed. The results showed that three bionic technologies can distinguish WA from CA well and that fusion signals can distinguish better. There were differences between WA and CA in odor, taste, color, and content of the indicator components. There were correlations between the morphological features and the content of indicator components.