Discrimination of Cuscuta chinensis Lam. and Cuscuta japonica Choisy based on a combination of chemometrics and fingerprint classification

Abstract

Cuscuta chinensis Lam. is a medicinal herb widely used in Chinese medicine. However, it is often replaced illegally with extracts of Cuscuta japonica Choisy. Thus, there is a need to be able to distinguish between samples from these two species. In this study, a combination of chemical HPLC fingerprinting and chemometrics was used to compare and identify samples of C. chinensis and C. japonica. The chemical composition of the samples was determined by HPLC fingerprinting. These results were then analyzed with chemometrics, namely hierarchical clustering analysis, and principal component analysis, both of which clearly distinguished between the two different herbal medicines. In addition, the partial least squares discriminant analysis model was selected for verification, given that it showed a stronger ability to predict the source of new samples. Ultimately, chemical markers were screened out using a Variable Importance Projection map. The results also indicated that flavonoids and organic acids have an important role in the discrimination of C. chinensis and C. japonica, which will be of relevance for determining the drug safety and quality control of herbal medicines containing C. chinensis.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Cuscuta chinensis Lam.
• Cuscuta japonica Choisy
• chemometrics
• HPLC fingerprint
• discrimination

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant number 2019YFC1711000).