Raw Arecae Semen, the seed of Areca catechu L., as well as Arecae Semen Tostum and Arecae semen carbonisata are traditionally processed by stir-baking for subsequent use in a variety of clinical applications. These three Arecae semen types, important Chinese herbal drugs, have been used in China and other Asian countries for thousands of years. In this study, the sensory technologies of a colorimeter and sensitive validated high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection were employed to discriminate raw Arecae semen and its processed drugs. The color parameters of the samples were determined by a colorimeter instrument CR-410. Moreover, the fingerprints of the four alkaloids of arecaidine, guvacine, arecoline and guvacoline were surveyed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Subsequently, Student's t test, the analysis of variance, fingerprint similarity analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis and Pearson's correlation test were performed for final data analysis. The results obtained demonstrated a significant color change characteristic for components in raw Arecae semen and its processed drugs. Crude and processed Arecae semen could be determined based on colorimetry and high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode array detector coupled with chemometrics methods for a comprehensive quality evaluation.
Keywords: chemometrics; colorimetry; high-performance liquid chromatography; quality assessment; traditional Chinese medicine.
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