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Abstract:We have developed a set of chemometric methods to address two critical issues in quality control of a precious traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Dong'e Ejiao (DEEJ). Based on near infrared (NIR) spectra of multiple samples, the genuine manufacturer of DEEJ, e.g. Dong'e Ejiao Co., Ltd., was accurately identified among 21 suppliers by the fingerprint method using Hotelling T 2 , distance to Model X (DModX), and similarity match value (SMV) as discriminate criteria. Soft independent modeling of the class analogy algorithm led to a misjudgment ratio of 6.2%, suggesting that the fingerprint method is more suitable for manufacturer identification. For another important feature related to clinical efficacy of DEEJ, storage time, the partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) method was applied with a satisfactory misjudgment ratio (15.6%) and individual prediction error around 1 year. Our results demonstrate that NIR spectra comprehensively reflect the essential quality information of DEEJ, and with the aid of proper chemometric algorithms, it is able to identify genuine manufacturer and determine accurate storage time. The overall results indicate the promising potential of NIR spectroscopy as an effective quality control tool for DEEJ and other precious TCM products.

A rapid and simultaneous quantification of the main active compounds of the in-process extract solutions is beneficial to the process monitoring as well as ensuring quality consistency of the end products during the production of traditional Chinese medicine. Here we present a near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy-based method for rapid analysis of extract solutions in the production of compound E Jiao oral liquid. The partial least-squares regression (PLSR) models for four quality indicators (viz. total flavonoids, total saponins, total saccharides and soluble solid contents) were established and validated. The results showed that all of the four models exhibited satisfactory fitting and predictive capacity. The root mean squares error of prediction (RMSEP) was 0.0384 mg mL À1 , 0.0154 mg mL À1 , 3.80 mg mL À1 and 0.199% for total flavonoids, total saponins, total saccharides and soluble solid contents, respectively. This work here demonstrated that NIR spectroscopy coupled with PLSR calibration can offer a reliable and non-destructive alternative in the routine monitoring of the extraction process in the production of compound E Jiao oral liquid. The presented approach is expected to be equally applicable to the mixed decoction of other herbal medicines.

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