Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Application of DNA Barcoding to Identify Medicinal Plants
Published on: November 1, 2024
Identification of Melissa officinalis Subspecies by DNA Fingerprinting
H T Wolf1, T van den Berg, F C Czygan
1Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie, Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt/M., Germany.
Abstract:
The random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPD) is a method to study genetic variability within and between populations and species on the basis of the amplification of anonymous fragments from genomic DNA templates by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We applied RAPD analysis in order to distinguish medicinal plant subspecies at the level of their genomes. In this study we investigated various samples of two MELISSA subspecies and showed that RAPD analysis is a fast and reliable method to distinguish subspecies on the pharmaceutical market that have been previously classified according to the distribution pattern of compounds present in the lemon balm oil.
Related Concept Videos
Methods of Classification and Identification
Modern Molecular Taxonomy
MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Applications of Molecular Taxonomy
