Discrimination and screening of volatile compounds in polygonati rhizoma and polygonati odorati rhizoma using GC-IMS and electronic nose combined with chemometric analysis

• This is the first time for analyzing the VOCs of PR and POR simultaneously. • The established methods had been proven effective without sample-pretreatment. • The integration of GC-IMS and E-nose with chemometrics were applied for the identification of PR and POR. • The results of the study provide a basis for effectively identification of PR and POR. Polygonati Odorati Rhizoma (POR),Polygonati Rhizoma (PR) are widely used as both medicine and food for centuries in China. The aim of the article is to analyze and characterize the volatile compounds (VOCs) in PR and POR using multiple techniques and to identify the critical differential VOCs among them for effective discrimination. The 57 VOCs were identified by using Headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS) in the result. The OPLS-DA results indicated that PR and POR samples had significant differences on VOCs characteristics, and based on the variable importance in projection (VIP>1.0) ( P <0.05), 16 VOCs were screened out as critical differential compounds through GC-IMS. In the meantime, the characteristics of VOCs of PR and POR were also analyzed by Electronic nose (E-nose). The article revealed that the combination of E-nose and GC-IMS with chemometrics could overall reflect the differences of VOCs in PR and POR, which will realize the identification of them effectively. Furthermore, the present research results supply a useful foundation for quality control of PR and POR, which have significant meaning for sustainable development of polygonatum medicinal plant resources.