A Multimodal Strategy for Quality Control and Botanical Origin Traceability of <i>Codonopsis</i> Radix based on HPLC Fingerprints With Chemometric Analysis

Codonopsis Radix (CR) is widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. However, the existence of three botanical origins in CR makes it challenging to ensure the quality of CR in the market. In this study, a method was developed to identify and analyze CR from different botanical origins, and their signature components were quantitatively compared. HPLC fingerprints of 55 CR batches demonstrated similarities ranging from 0.707 to 0.994. Chemometrics was used to analyze the different botanical origins of CR and identify significant components affecting their classification. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that 55 CR batches could be divided into three groups according to their botanical origins. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was applied to confirm classification results and obtain the chemical markers. In addition, the reliability of the markers was revalidated by counter propagation artificial neural networks (CP-ANN). The content determination results showed significant differences in the contents of adenosine, eleutheroside B, tangshenoside I, and lobetyolin in the three kinds of CR. The methods and results of this study provide a reliable basis for the identification and rational utilization of CR.