Economical, Plain, and Rapid Authentication of Actaea racemosa L. (syn. Cimicifuga racemosa, Black Cohosh) Herbal Raw Material by Resilient RP-PDA-HPLC and Chemometric Analysis.
BACKGROUND
The medicinal plant Actaea racemosa L. (Ranunculaceae, aka black cohosh) is widely used to treat climacteric complaints as an alternative to hormone substitution. Recent trials prove efficacy and safety of the approved herbal medicinal products from extracts of pharmaceutical quality. This led to worldwide increasing sales. A higher demand for the plant material results in problems with economically motivated adulteration. Thus, reliable tools for herbal drug authentication are necessary.


OBJECTIVE
To develop an economical, plain, and rapid method to distinguish between closely related American and Asian Actaea species, using securely established and resilient analytical methods coupled to a chemometric evaluation of the resulting data.


METHODS
We developed and validated a RP-PDA-HPLC method including an extraction by ultra-sonication to determine the genuine contents of partly hydrolysis-sensitive polyphenols in Actaea racemosa roots and rhizomes, and applied it to a large number of 203 Actaea samples consisting of seven species.


RESULTS
We were able to generate reliable data with regards to the polyphenolic esters in the samples. The evaluation of this data by principle component analysis (PCA) made a discrimination between Asian Actaea species (sheng ma), one American Actaea species (Appalachian bugbane), and A. racemosa possible.


CONCLUSIONS
The developed RP-PDA-HPLC method coupled to PCA is an excellent tool for authentication of the Actaea racemosa herbal drug, and can be a powerful addition to the TLC methods used in the dedicated pharmacopoeias, and is a promising alternative to expensive and lots of expertise requiring methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 2+4, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
Marian
M
Bittner
Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institut für Agrar- und Gartenbauwissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 5, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
Regina
R
Schenk
Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Core Facility BioSupraMol, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 3, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
Andreas
A
Springer
Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 2+4, 14195, Berlin, Germany. melzig@zedat.fu-berlin.de.
Matthias F
MF
Melzig
D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D056148:Chromatography, Reverse-Phase / Q000379:methods*; D031885:Cimicifuga / Q000737:chemistry*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D029001:Herbal Medicine; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
actaea racemosa; black cohosh; cimicifuga racemosa, sheng ma, 升麻