No abstract

Volatile components are important active ingredients of Rutaceae. In this study, HS-GC-IMS (headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry) was used to study the volatile compounds of Qu Aurantii Fructus, and a total of 174 peaks were detected, 102 volatile organic compounds (131 peaks) were identified. To compare the volatile compounds of Qu Aurantii Fructus with its similar medical herb, Aurantii Fructus, and their common adulterants, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) were performed based on the signal intensity of all the detected peaks. The results showed that Qu Aurantii Fructus and Aurantii Fructus (Citrus aurantium L.) were clustered into one group, while their common adulterants could be well distinguished in a relatively independent space. In order to distinguish Qu Aurantii Fructus from Aurantii Fructus, the peaks other than the average intensity ±2 standard deviation (95% confidence interval) were taken as the characteristic components by using the Gallery Plot plug-in software. Additionally, the fingerprint method was established based on the characteristic compounds, which can be used to distinguish among Qu Aurantii Fructus, Aurantii Fructus and their common adulterants quickly and effectively. We found that the characteristic components with higher content of Qu Aurantii Fructus were nerol, decanal, coumarin and linalool. This study provides a novel method for rapid and effective identification of Qu Aurantii Fructus and a new dimension to recognize the relationship between Qu Aurantii Fructus and Aurantii Fructus.

No abstract

Ophiopogonis Radix is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine as well as a type of functional food. Because Ophiopogonis Radix grows in the ground, it is often damaged by worms during planting or broken when people try to dig them out, which leads to the containments of spoiled products of different proportion in Ophiopogonis Radix. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Ophiopogonis Radix, which involves spoiled products in different proportions, were analyzed by headspace‐gas chromatography‐ion mobility spectrometry (HS‐GC‐IMS). Finally, a total of 87 VOCs were discovered after analysis, and 14 of them were chose to established characteristic fingerprints. Twelve of the 14 characteristic compounds were be recognized by a built‐in database. The results showed that the content of hexanol, ethanol, methanol, (E)‐2‐hexenal, and hexanal was in inverse proportion with the containing of spoiled products, so they may be characteristic VOCs of fresh Ophiopogonis Radix,; and the content of 3‐methy‐1‐butanol, furfural, 5‐methylfural, phenylacetaldehyde, 2‐methylbutanoic acid, 2‐butanone, and 2‐acetylfuran are proportional to the containing of spoiled products, so they may be the characteristic of VOCs of spoiled Ophiopogonis Radix. The signal peak intensities of the 14 characteristic VOCs were used as the variables of principal component analysis (PCA). The result shows that the fresh Ophiopogonis Radix and the spoiled Ophiopogonis Radix could be clearly differentiated, and the different proportions of spoiled products were grouped into separate categories, respectively. The larger the proportion of spoiled products, the greater the difference between the sample and fresh Ophiopogonis Radix. Practical applications Ophiopogonis Radix is a kind of commonly used traditional Chinese medicine and functional food. In the actual use of Ophiopogonis Radix, the damage caused by worms during planting and the breakage during being dug out often lead to Ophiopogonis Radix containing spoiled products in the market. The existence of spoiled products greatly affects the quality and safety of Ophiopogonis Radix. Due to the difference in flavor between fresh Ophiopogonis Radix and spoiled products, the present study used HS‐GC‐IMS method to analyze the VOCs in fresh Ophiopogonis Radix and Ophiopogonis Radix containing spoiled products of different proportions and screened out the characteristic VOCs of fresh Ophiopogonis Radix and spoiled Ophiopogonis Radix. The results provide scientific basis for quality control of Ophiopogonis Radix.