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Identification of ginseng root using quantitative X-ray microtomography.
Linlin Ye1, Yanling Xue1, Yudan Wang1
1Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Journal of Ginseng Research
|July 14, 2017
Summary
X-ray phase-contrast microtomography non-destructively images ginseng microstructure. This reveals distinct calcium oxalate cluster crystal distributions, aiding in identifying different ginseng species and potentially their medicinal properties.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacognosy
- Biomedical Imaging
- Materials Science
Background:
- Chinese medicinal materials require advanced imaging techniques.
- X-ray phase-contrast microtomography offers non-destructive, in situ, 3D quantitative imaging.
- This method is ideal for analyzing complex biological structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the microstructure of ginseng using X-ray phase-contrast microtomography.
- To quantitatively analyze the distribution of calcium oxalate cluster crystals (COCCs) in ginseng.
- To explore the potential of this technique for ginseng authentication and quality assessment.
Main Methods:
- Employed X-ray phase-contrast microtomography for quantitative imaging of ginseng microstructure.
- Utilized phase-retrieval methods for experimental data processing.
- Analyzed four distinct ginseng samples classified by species, origin, and growth patterns.
Main Results:
- Successfully extracted quantitative internal microstructural characteristics of ginseng.
- Revealed the 3D size and positional distributions of calcium oxalate cluster crystals (COCCs).
- Demonstrated significant differences in COCC volume and amount among the four ginseng species.
Conclusions:
- This study pioneers the use of X-ray phase-contrast microtomography for COCC distribution analysis in ginseng.
- The findings support species authentication and age identification of ginseng.
- The method shows promise for understanding the link between COCCs and ginseng's medicinal efficacy.
