MS, NMR, and DNA barcoding, complementary methods for identification and authentication of Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.)

Flow injection mass spectrometry (FIMS), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (¹H-NMR) and DNA barcoding, two metabolic fingerprinting methods, and DNA barcoding were used to identify and authenticate Actaea species. Initially, vouchered Actaea racemosa samples from a single sources were distinguished from other Actaea species based on principal component analysis (PCA) and soft independent modeling of class analogies (SIMCA) of FIMS and ¹H-NMR metabolic fingerprints. The chemometric results for FIMS and ¹H-NMR agreed well and showed similar agreements with the identity of some of the non-vouchered samples. DNA barcoding confirmed misidentifications and led to discovery of mislabeling in the laboratory. Differences were observed between vouchered A. racemosa samples from four different sources although the within A. racemosa species variance was significantly less than the between species variance. A model based on the combined A. racemosa samples still permitted distinction between species. Additionally, the combined A. racemosa were distinguishable from commercial root samples and from commercial supplements in tablet, capsule, or liquid form. DNA barcoding verified the lack of authenticity of the commercial roots and was unsuccessful in characterizing many of the supplements due to the lack of DNA.