Differentiation of Asian ginseng, American ginseng and Notoginseng by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy combined with two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy

Abstract The herbal materials of Asian ginseng (the root of Panax ginseng ), American ginseng (the root of Panax quinquefolius ) and Notoginseng (the root of Panax notoginseng ) were differentiated by conventional Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (1D-FTIR) and two-dimensional (2D) correlation FTIR applying a thermal perturbation. Altogether 30 samples were collected and analyzed. Their entire 1D-FTIR spectra in the range of 4000–400 cm −1 and 2D-FTIR spectra in the region of 850–1530 cm −1 were generally similar based on the peaks position and intensities. This indicated the chemical constituents in these species of herbs were not distinctively different. However, variation in peak intensity were observed at about 1640 cm −1 , 1416 cm −1 , 1372 cm −1 and 1048 cm −1 in the 1D-FTIR spectra among these species for their ease differentiation. Clustering analysis of 1D-FTIR showed that these species located in different clusters. Much difference in their second derivative FTIR pattern among the three species also provided information for easy differentiation. These species of herbs were further identified based on the positions and intensities of relatively strong auto-peaks, positive or negative cross-peaks in their 2D-FTIR spectra. The findings provide a rapid and new operational procedure for the differentiation of these notable herbs. The visual and colorful 2D-FTIR spectra can provide dynamic structural information of chemical components in analyte and demonstrated as a powerful and useful approach for herbs identification.