Abstract
When testing botanical ingredients of herbal medicines and dietary supplements, the
complexity of botanical matrixes often requires the use of orthogonal methods to establish
identification procedures suitable for quality control purposes. Genomic-based botanical
identification methods are evolving and emerging as useful quality control tools to
complement traditional morphological and chemical identification methods. Species-specific
polymerase chain reaction methods are being evaluated for botanical quality control
and as a cost-effective approach to identify and discriminate between closely related
botanical species. This paper describes orthogonal identification of Panax ginseng, P. quinquefolius, and P. notoginseng materials in commerce as an example of the development and validation of a set of
species-specific polymerase chain reaction methods to establish botanical identity
in ginseng roots. This work also explored the possibility of extending the
application of species-specific polymerase chain reaction methods to provide
species identity information for processed materials, such as steamed roots and hydroalcoholic
extracts, and showed success with this approach. Finally, the paper provides recommendations
for an out-of-specification investigation of samples that may pass some of the orthogonal
tests and fail others.
Key words
Panax spp. - Araliaceae - species-specific PCR - DNA-based identification - orthogonal
tests - botanical dietary supplements
