Characterization and authentication of Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma and its adulterants by UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS chromatographic fingerprints, elements profiles and chemometric methods

UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS and ICP-MS were applied to analyze and characterize the chemical composition of Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma (ATR) and its adulterants including Acori Calami Rhizoma (ACR) and Anemones Altaicae Rhizoma (AAR). Fifty-five, fifty-five and thirty-six organic components were identified in ATR, ACR and AAR by UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS, respectively. Forty elements were detected by ICP-MS. AAR is different from ATR and ACR. 19 organic components existed in ATR and ACR were not detected in AAR. And, concentration of β-asarone in AAR was 1000 times lower than ATR and ACR. Chemical components in ATR and ACR are very similar. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to distinguish between ATR and ACR. Variable important projection (VIP) was employed to improve the classification ability of PLS-DA. Twenty-one chemical components were identified, and were used to establish the characteristic quantitative fingerprints of ATR and ACR. Our results indicated that the combination of two analytical platforms and chemometrics will provide more information to characterize and distinguish the complex analytical objects, such as similar Chinese herbs.