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DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1608586
Hypericum perforatum – a comparison of commercial samples using DNA-barcoding and chemical approaches
Publication History
Publication Date:
24 October 2017 (online)
Adulterated herbal products are a serious concern and recently DNA-based techniques have come to a wider attention as a novel tool. The aim of the project is to establish a distinguishable method in the identification of plant material and in quality control. In this study we analysed 20 commercial Hypericum perforatum L. (HP; [1]) products, combining chemical and genetic techniques: NMR-based metabolomics combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and HPTLC analysis [2] and DNA-barcoding.
HPTLC analysis confirmed 50% of the samples to be HP, with the remainder differing from the HP chromatographic description and identified as “Chinese SJW”. NMR-PCA analysis mostly agrees with the HPTLC findings, grouping the allegedly “Chinese SJW” together. DNA-barcoding confirmed the identity of three HP samples. Specific PCR tests gave a positive signal with a further three HP samples but also with three “Chinese SJW” samples.
While the chemical methods, as expected, agree with each other, DNA-barcoding identification was limited by the ability to extract viable DNA from all samples. The design of more specific primers to distinguish HP from “Chinese SJW” is now required. A combination of DNA and chemical methods will confer a higher degree of certainty and can be extended to other herbal medicines.
A charitable donation by Fa. Schwabe (Germany) is gratefully acknowledged.
[1] McCutcheon, M. 2017. Hypericum perforatum Botanical Adulterants Bulletin January 2017. www.botanicaladulterants.org
[2] Booker, A, Jalil B, Frommenwiler D, Reich E, Zhai L, Kulic Z, Heinrich M. 2016. Phytomedicine 23: 754 – 762