Planta Med 2011; 77 - P_65
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1273594

Discrimination Among Species of Medicinal Scutellaria Plants using NMR Fingerprinting

J Li 2, J Zhao 1, IA Khan 1, 2, 3
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 3Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The genus Scutellaria includes more than 350 species worldwide. Scutellaria has been used by indigenous cultures to treat a variety of different ailments, including neurological disorders, chronic ailments, hepatitis, cirrhosis, jaundice, and anxiety [1]. Scutellaria baicalensis (Georgi.), commonly known as Huang-qin, is the most commonly prescribed plant in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)[2]. It has been used for reducing prostate cancer, inhibition of proliferation of human hepatoma cell lines, inhibition of liver fibrosis, and reduction of symptoms of Type 1 allergic reactions [1, 2]. Another species, S. lateriflora, also known as skullcap or mad-dog, has a long history of use by native North American peoples to stimulate blood flow, to reduce nervous tension and to treat mental or neurological illnesses. Currently, skullcap is sold in North America in the form of tea or capsule made from dried aerial parts, and is used to treat epilepsy, neurological damages from bacterial infections, insomnia, anxiety, neuralgia, and withdrawal from tranquilizers or barbiturates [3]. Adulteration of S. lateriflora with the ornamental plants Teucrium canadense or T. chamaedrys has been reported occasionally [4]. These plants of the genus Teucrium are known containing potentially hepatotoxic diterpenes. We here reported a rapid method for discrimination among the plant extracts from both Scutellaria and Teucrium species by using NMR fingerprint combined with multivariate analysis.

Acknowledgements: This work was supported in part by „Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements“ and „Botanical Dietary Supplement Research“ funded by the Food and Drug Administration grant numbers 5U01FD002071–10 and 1U01FD003871–02, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58–6408–2-0009.

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