title: Chemical differentiation and quality evaluation of commercial Asian and American ginsengs based on a UHPLC-QTOF/MS/MS metabolomics approach.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asian and American ginsengs are widely used medicinal materials and are being used more and more in health products. The two materials look alike but function differently. Various forms of both types of ginseng are found in the market, causing confusion for consumers in their choice.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the overall quality of commercial Asian and American ginsengs and investigate the characteristic chemical markers for differentiating between them.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article investigated 17 Asian and 21 American ginseng samples using an ultra-HPLC combined with quadrupole time-of-flight MS/MS technique. The data were processed by principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squared discriminant analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the chromatograms, a total of 40 peaks were detected. Among them, six were positively identified, and all of the remainder were tentatively identified. According to statistical results, ginsenosides Rf, Rb2 and Rc together with their isomers and derivatives were more likely to be present in Asian ginsengs, whereas ginsenoside Rb1 , pseudoginsenoside F11 and ginsenoside Rd together with their isomers and derivatives tended to be present in American ginsengs. For Asian ginsengs, ginsenoside Ra3 and 20-β-D-glucopyranosyl-ginsenoside-Rf were more likely to be present in forest samples, whereas contents of floralquinquenoside B, ginsenosides Ro and Rc, and zingibroside R1 were higher in sun-dried ginsengs. For American ginseng, wild samples often had more of the notoginsenosides R1 and Rw2 and less of the ginsenosides Rd, Rd isomer and 20 (S)-Rg3 than cultivated samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The method provided important fingerprint information for authentication and evaluation of Asian and American ginsengs from various commercial products.
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Resources Science of Traditional Chinese Medicines, State Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhongzhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Hubiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Minjian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Zhitao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D036145:Ginsenosides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055432:Metabolomics; D005894:Panax / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D036145:Ginsenosides; C413985:pseudoginsenoside F11; C064378:ginsenoside Ro; C442759:ginsenoside Rb1; C055328:ginsenoside Rf; C049863:ginsenoside Rd; C072936:notoginsenoside R1
keywords: American ginseng; Asian ginseng; Chemical differentiation; commercial products; quality evaluation