Rapid identification of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus and its adulterants by UPLC-ELSD fingerprint combined with chemometrics methods

Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus (FCB) is a well-known and precious antitussive traditional Chinese medical herb. It is prone to be accidentally contaminated, deliberately substituted or admixed with other species of similar morphological characters. These adulterations might cause quality confusion and safety issues. In this study, a UPLC-ELSD fingerprint analysis with chemometric methods, including similarity analysis, hierarchical clustering analysis, and principal component analysis, were applied for the identification of FCB and its adulterants. Our results indicated that the combined method could efficiently identify and distinguish FCB from its adulterations. The proposed method provides a potential perspective for the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine.