title: DNA methods for identification of Chinese medicinal materials.
abstract: As adulterated and substituted Chinese medicinal materials are common in the market, therapeutic effectiveness of such materials cannot be guaranteed. Identification at species-, strain- and locality-levels, therefore, is required for quality assurance/control of Chinese medicine. This review provides an informative introduction to DNA methods for authentication of Chinese medicinal materials. Technical features and examples of the methods based on sequencing, hybridization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are described and their suitability for different identification objectives is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong. hkanna2-paper@yahoo.com.hk
authors.forename: Pui Ying
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: Chi Fai
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Chau
authors.forename: Chun Yin
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Mak
authors.forename: Hoi Shan
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kwan