title: Chemical and DNA authentication of taste variants of Gynostemma pentaphyllum herbal tea.
abstract: Gynostemma pentaphyllum Makino (Gp) was once used as a sweetener in Japan and is now widely consumed as an herbal tea worldwide for lowering cholesterol levels. Two taste variants, bitter and sweet, of Gp exist in the commercial market, but they cannot be differentiated morphologically nor by existing chemical analytical methods. This has been creating a problem in quality control of Gp products. In the present study, using HPLC-DAD and HPLC-ESI-MS analysis, we found that the Gp saponins, not flavonoids, from the sweet and bitter variants have distinctly different profiles. In addition, the two variants share only 69.01% homology in the ribosomal ITS-1 region, suggesting a phylogenic gap between these two variants. The combinations of chemical profiling and phylogenic analysis clearly confirm, for the first time, the distinction between these two taste variants. This information has direct application in the authentication and quality assessment of the various Gynostemma tea products.
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Pui Kei
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: William C S
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Roy C Y
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Karl W K
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Tsim
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: bowhsiao@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: W L Wendy
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Hsiao
keywords: Gynostemma pentaphyllum; Gypenoside; ITS sequence; Phylogeny; Taste variants