Authentication of Hedyotis products by adaptor ligation-mediated PCR and metabarcoding.

DNA barcoding is a widely used tool for species identification and authentication. However, it may not be applicable to highly processed herbal products due to severe DNA fragmentation. The emergence of DNA metabarcoding provides an alternative way to solve the problem.

Application of next-generation sequencing for the identification of herbal products.

Conventional Sanger Sequencing for authentication of herbal products is difficult since they are mixture of herbs with fragmented DNA. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques give massive parallelization of sequencing reaction to generate multiple reads with various read length, thus different components in herbal products with fragmented DNA can be identified. NGS is especially suitable for animal derived products with the lack of effective markers for chemical analysis.

Effective authentication of Placenta Hominis.

Background: Human placenta is used to make the medicinal product Placenta Hominis in Asian countries. With its therapeutic benefits and limited supply, intentional or inadvertent adulteration is found in the market. In order to enforce the implementation of product description laws and protect customer rights, we established a hierarchical protocol involving morphological, chemical, biochemical and molecular diagnosis to authenticate this medicinal product.

DNA barcoding in concentrated Chinese medicine granules using adaptor ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction.

The use of DNA barcodes for species identification is a common laboratory practice. However, PCR amplification of full-length DNA barcode in processed material is difficult because of severe DNA fragmentation. In this study, an adaptor ligation-mediated PCR protocol was derived to amplify sets of target DNA fragments isolated from two CCMG products.

DNA-based techniques for authentication of processed food and food supplements.

Authentication of food or food supplements with medicinal values is important to avoid adverse toxic effects, provide consumer rights, as well as for certification purpose. Compared to morphological and spectrometric techniques, molecular authentication is found to be accurate, sensitive and reliable. However, DNA degradation and inclusion of inhibitors may lead to failure in PCR amplification.

Quantification of concentrated Chinese medicine granules by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Determination of the amount of constituent in a multi-herb product is important for quality control. In concentrated Chinese medicine granules (CCMG), no dregs are left after dissolution of the CCMG. This study is the first to examine the feasibility of using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to find the amount of CCMG in solution form.

DNA authentication of animal-derived concentrated Chinese medicine granules.

Concentrated Chinese medicine granules (CCMG) offer patients a convenient option for traditional therapy. However with morphological and microscopic characteristics lost, it is difficult to authenticate and control the quality of these medicinal products. This study is the first to examine the feasibility of using DNA techniques to authenticate animal-derived CCMG, which has so far lacking of effective means for authentication.

Identification of constituent herbs in ginseng decoctions by DNA markers.

Background: DNA in herbal decoctions is usually fragmented by extensive boiling and is usually regarded as unsuitable for molecular authentication. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility for molecular authentication methods by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing for decoctions.

Methods: The DNA extraction procedure, sample pulverization and boiling time were examined in (1) single herb decoction with Panax ginseng ("ginseng") or P.