Study of the volatile constituents in radix flemingiae macrophyllae and a substitute by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and chemometric methods.

A combined approach of subwindow factor analysis and spectral correlative chromatography was used to analyze the volatile components in Radix Flemingiae Macrophyllae and Flemingiae Latifolia Benth, one of its substitutes. After extraction by a water distillation method, the volatile components in Radix Flemingiae Macrophyllae and Flemingiae Latifolia Benth were detected by GC-MS. Then the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the volatile components in Radix Flemingiae Macrophyllae was completed with the help of subwindow factor analysis resolving two-dimensional original data into mass spectra and chromatograms. Sixty five of 82 separated constituents in the total ion chromatogram of the volatile components in Radix Flemingiae Macrophyllae were identified and quantified, accounting for about 88.79% of the total content. Then, spectral correlative chromatography was used to extract correlative constituents in Flemingiae Latifolia Benth. Fifty one correlative components were recognized in essential oil of Flemingiae Latifolia Benth. The result proves the combined approach is powerful in the analysis of complex herbal samples. The developed method can be used to compare the sameness and differences of Radix Flemingiae Macrophyllae and its substitutes and it can also be used for quality control of Radix Flemingiae Macrophyllae.