Identifying the authenticity and producing area of panax using non- linear chemical fingerprint

Samples of panax from 7 producing areas and its fakes as well as other ginsengs were investigated using non- linear chemical fingerprint, and a new method to identify the authenticity and producing area of panax sample was put forward. Nonlinear chemical reactions could took place in the systems consisting of H2SO4, Mn SO4, CH3COCH3, Na Br O3 and components of ginseng samples and the optimal reaction conditions were investigated by adjusting the sample dosage and reaction temperature. The fingerprints of samples of different kinds and producing areas were determined under the optimal conditions, and their system similarities were determined.The results showed that when dosage of detection was 0.6g and the reaction temperature was 37℃, the non- linear chemical fingerprints had good reproducibility and characteristic. The fingerprint characteristics of different ginsengs were obviously different; the system similarities of panax samples from the same producing area were between 0.9712 ~ 0.9920, whereas those from different producing areas were 0.7548 ~ 0.9403. The authenticity and producing area of panax could be identified accurately by the visual characteristic and system similarity of its non- linear chemical fingerprint, respectively.