Study on Quality Evaluation of Different Origins of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma Based on Multivariate Statistical Analysis of Fingerprints and Multi-Component Quantitative Analysis

OBJECTIVE   To establish the UPLC fingerprints of 3 origins of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and determine multi-component content.METHODS   The fingerprints of 51 batches of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma were established and 14 chemical contents were determined based on UPLC method. The similarity evaluation, cluster analysis, principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis were performed to evaluate the quality of different origins of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma comprehensively.RESULTS   The fingerprints of three origins of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma were established. 18 common peaks and 14 chemical components were identified. The result of the similarity evaluation showed that there were some differences among three origins of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma, however, Rheum officinale Baill. and Rheum palmatum L. were similar in a way. The result of the cluster analysis was consistent with the similarity evaluation. The principal component analysis showed that 4 principal components were extracted, and the cumulative variance contribution were up to 85.823%. Partial least squares discriminant analysis was used to identify different origins of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma, which screened 6 varied components.CONCLUSION   The method established in this experiment is simple and reliable, and provides reliable analytical methods for the quality control and origins identification of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma.