[Plant metabolomics approach for age discrimination of mountain cultivated ginseng using UPLC-Q-TOF/MS].

Growth year is one of the important factors for the quality of mountain cultivated ginseng (MCG). For age differentiation of MCG, rhizome extracts of ginseng aged from 11 to 15 years were analyzed using a non-targeted approach with ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS)-based on plant metabolomics technique. Multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squared discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to compare the derived patterns among the samples.