title: Metabolomic approach for age discrimination of Panax ginseng using UPLC-Q-Tof MS.
abstract: An ultraperformance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-Tof MS)-based metabolomic technique was applied for metabolite profiling of 60  Panax ginseng  samples aged from 1 to 6 years. Multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis were used to compare the derived patterns among the samples. The data set was subsequently applied to various metabolite selection methods for sophisticated classification with the optimal number of metabolites. The results showed variations in accuracy among the classification methods for the samples of different ages, especially for those aged 4, 5, and 6 years. This proposed analytical method coupled with multivariate analysis is fast, accurate, and reliable for discriminating the cultivation ages of P. ginseng samples and is a potential tool to standardize quality control in the P. ginseng industry.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology and ‡Department of Statistics, Korea University , Seoul 136-713, Korea.
authors.forename: Nahyun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kemok
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byeong Yeob
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Donghyuk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yoo-Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Kyong-Hwan
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Seon-Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Jae Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyung-Kyoon
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Dae Sik
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Dongho
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D055432:Metabolomics; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D005894:Panax / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification* / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts