OBJECTIVE

2

To evaluate the quality of

Euscaphis japonica

from different habitats.

METHODS

2

The relative correction factors of gallic acid， protocatechuic acid， ellagic acid， isoquercitrin， astragalin and apigenin were calculated with quercetin as the internal reference； the relative correction factors of euscaphic acid， oleanolic acid， stigmasterol and

β

-sitosterol were also calculated with ursolic acid as the internal reference. The contents of 12 components in 18 batches of samples were calculated by QAMS method and were compared with external standard method. At the same time， the contents of water-soluble extract， alcohol-soluble extract， total ash and acid-insoluble ash were detected. The quality of

E. japonica

was evaluated by principal component analysis （PCA）， orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA）， and weighted technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution （TOPSIS） method.

RESULTS

2

There was no significant difference between the results of QAMS method and external standard method for the 12 components in the 18 batches of samples. However， notable content variations were observed among

different batches of samples. The results of PCA and OPLS-DA showed that S1-S7， S8-S12， and S13-S18 were clustered into one category respectively. Seven key characteristic components variable importance in projection values ＞1， euscaphic acid， ursolic acid， protocatechuic acid， apigenin，

β

-sitosterol， isoquercitrin， and oleanolic acid， respectively. The analysis results of the weighted TOPSIS method revealed that the relative closeness for evaluating the quality of 18 batches of samples ranged from 0.283 5 to 0.644 1， with the samples of

E. japonica

from Fengjie， Chongqing， demonstrating the highest quality.

CONCLUSIONS

2

The established method is accurate and feasible， which can be used for the quality evaluation of

E. japonica

combined with chemometrics and weighted TOPSIS model.