From Fingerprint Spectra to Intelligent Perception: Research Advances in Spectral Techniques for Ginseng Species...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Spectroscopy
• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Background:

• Panax species are pharmacologically important but difficult to authenticate and evaluate for quality in TCM.
• Conventional methods for Panax quality control present limitations in speed, throughput, non-destructive measurement, and accuracy.
• There is a need for modern, scalable analytical techniques for robust Panax herbal material assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in vibrational and related spectroscopic techniques for Panax authentication and quality evaluation.
• To compare the capabilities of different spectroscopic methods (IR, NIR, Raman, THz, HSI, NMR) for key quality control tasks.
• To discuss novel data analysis strategies, including multimodal data fusion and machine learning, for improved Panax quality assessment.

Main Methods:

• Review of vibrational spectroscopy techniques: Infrared (IR), Near-Infrared (NIR), Raman, Terahertz (THz), Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI), and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).
• Comparison of technique suitability for species authentication, geographical origin tracing, age discrimination, and chemical marker quantification.
• Discussion of data-driven sensing strategies, multimodal data fusion, and interpretable machine learning/deep learning.

Main Results:

• NIR and HSI excel in rapid, high-throughput screening of bulk Panax samples.
• Raman and NMR offer superior chemical specificity for detailed molecular and structural characterization.
• Multimodal data fusion combined with machine learning provides robust models for quality assessment, overcoming single-modality limitations.

Conclusions:

• Advanced spectroscopic techniques offer improved solutions for Panax authentication and quality control.
• Integrating multiple spectroscopic methods and advanced data analysis enhances reliability and scalability.
• These approaches facilitate the digitization of quality control workflows for Chinese herbal medicines.