Discriminating authentic Nostoc flagelliforme from its counterfeits by applying alternative ED-XRF and FTIR techniques

►XRF and FTIR were used as alternative tools to authenticate Nostoc flagelliforme. ► Mg, P and Ba were absent in the imitation alga samples from ED-XRF analysis. ► Different structural elucidation patterns were found in the Nostoc samples by FTIR.