ABSTRACT
Objective A HPLC fingerprint method of Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus(AOF)before and after salt-processing was established,to compare the differences of chemical components between raw and processed AOF combined with chemical pattern recognition.Methods HPLC method was used to establish the fingerprint of raw and salt-processed AOF.Principal component analysis(PCA)and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA)were applied to explore the different components of raw and salt-processed AOF in different batches.Results Totally 30 and 32 common peaks in the HPLC fingerprint from the raw and salt-processed AOF were detected,respectively.And 8 of them were identified by comparison with the standards.They were peak X2(5-hydroxymethylfurfural),peak 1(protocatechuic acid),peak 2(protocatechualdehyde),peak 4(epicatechin),peak 21(chrysin),peak 22(kaempferide),peak 25(tectochrysin)and peak 26(nootkatone).The results of PCA and OPLS-DA showed that raw and salt-processed AOF can be grouped into two categories.A total of 12 components,which were considered as differential markers of raw and salt-processed AOF,were screened by method of variable importance in projection(VIP).The 12 components were peak X1,peak 26(nootkatone),peak 16,peak 3,peak X2(5-hydroxymethylfurfural),peak 25(tectochrysin),peak 15,peak 12,peak 8,peak 10,peak 17 and peak 20.Conclusion The combination of HPLC fingerprint and chemical pattern recognition can be used to analyze the quality differences of AOF before and after salt-processing.