Chemometric analyses for the characterization of raw and processed seeds of Descurainia sophia (L.) based on HPLC fingerprints.

The seeds of Descurainia sophia (L.) (short for DSS below), with a long history of medicinal utilization in China, have attracted the attention of many Chinese medicine practitioners for the potent efficacy. In the present study, the raw and processed DSS were differentiated by several chemometrics methods based on HPLC fingerprints. Moreover, peaks which were mainly responsible for the differentiation between raw and roasted DSS were found. Therefore, the method of the chromatographic fingerprints combined with multivariate statistical analysis was effective and reasonable in orientating chemical constituents which were mainly responsible for the differentiation between raw and roasted materials, thus shedding light on illustrating the processing mechanism. What's more, this method can also be applied in the identification of authenticity.