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A high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC–FLD) and principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were developed for the quality control of Gastrodia elata. The developed protocols were successfully applied to the analysis and evaluation of 47 batches of this material from eight regions. A standard fluorescence fingerprint for G. elata was established based on 12 common peaks measured in all samples and the similarities between sample fingerprints and standard fingerprint were almost greater than 0.85. The results of PCA and HCA analysis showed that the samples from the eight regions could be classified into three groups. The correlation between the fingerprints and antioxidant activities was investigated by a stepwise regression model and Pearson correlation analysis. Gastrodigenin and parishin E were screened and validated as potential antioxidant markers of G. elata. This study provides a valuable reference for the evaluation of G. elata and other herbal medicines or their related foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastrodia elata Blume (G. elata), a traditional Chinese medicine, is widely used for treatment of various neuro dysfunctions. However, its quality control is still limited to the determination of gastrodin. In the present study, two novel strategies based on quantitative evaluation of total gastrodin and gastrodigenin with base hydrolysis and total gastrodigenin with base-enzymatic hydrolysis followed by HPLC-FLD were put forward and successfully applied to evaluate the quality of 47 batches of G. elata from eight localities. Meanwhile, a systematic comparison of the novel strategy with the multiple markers and the Pharmacopeia method was performed. The results showed that the parishins category could be completely hydrolyzed to gastrodin by sodium hydroxide solution, and gastrodin could further utterly hydrolyze to gastrodigenin with -D-glucosidase buffer solution. The contents of total gastrodin and gastrodigenin ranged from 1.311% to 2.034%, and total gastrodigenin from 0.748% to 1.120% at the eight localities. From the comparison, we can conclude that the two novel strategies can comprehensively reveal the characteristics of overall active ingredients in G. elata for quality control. The present study provides a feasible and credible strategy for the quality control of G. elata, suggesting a revision of the latest Chinese Pharmacopoeia or European Pharmacopoeia methods for the modernization of G. elata use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical fingerprint and metabolic profile of traditional Chinese medicine is very complicated and has been a great challenge. In the present study, chemical fingerprint of ethyl acetate fraction of Gastrodia elata (EtAcGE) and metabolic profile of rat plasma sample after intragastric administration of EtAcGE (2.5 g/kg) were investigated using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF MS). A total of 38 chemical constituents of EtAcGE were identified by comparing their retention time, accurate molecular mass and characteristic fragment ions with those of references, or tentatively characterized by comparing molecular formula, fragment ions with that of known compound or information available in literature. And 40 compounds were detected in dosed rat plasma sample, including 16 prototypes and 24 metabolites underwent metabolic process of glucuronidation, glucosylation, sulfation, methylation, hydroxylation, dehydrogenation or mixed modes. The metabolic “soft spots” was hydroxyl or carboxy group. This is the first research for chemical fingerprint and metabolic profile of EtAcGE, which lay a foundation for the further investigation of EtAcGE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]