[Application of comparison method with correlation coefficient array in identification of Chinese herbs]

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Cheminformatics
• Pharmacognosy

Background:

• Chinese herbal medicine relies on accurate identification.
• Traditional identification methods can be subjective and time-consuming.
• Infrared (IR) spectroscopy offers a unique spectral fingerprint for chemical compounds.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a reliable method for identifying Chinese herbs using infrared spectroscopy.
• To create a software tool for comparing FTIR spectra of unknown herbs with a reference database.

Main Methods:

• Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to generate spectra for over 300 Chinese herbs.
• A software application was developed in Visual Basic 6.0 to compare correlation coefficient arrays of FTIR spectra.
• Threshold values for correlation coefficients and characteristic peak bands were used to avoid spectral interferences (e.g., H2O, CO2).

Main Results:

• An infrared spectrum database of over 300 Chinese herbs was established.
• The developed software successfully identified unknown herbs by comparing their FTIR spectra with the database.
• The method demonstrated credible and correct identification results by mitigating spectral interference.

Conclusions:

• Comparing FTIR spectra against a comprehensive database is an effective method for identifying Chinese herbs.
• The developed software and methodology provide a reliable and objective approach to herb identification.
• This technique has the potential to become a standard method for Chinese herb authentication.