Establishment of DNA barcodes for the identification of the botanical sources of the Chinese 'cooling' beverage

► We established molecular markers for identification of the Chinese 'cooling' beverage. ► Samples were collected conforming to the requirements of the DNA barcoding initiative. ► 608 sequences of four DNA barcodes were generated from 177 samples of 44 species. ► DNA polymorphic sites were used to identify the source species and retailed samples. ► The DNA barcodes are important standard molecular markers for quality control.