OBJECTIVE To establish the volatile oil fingerprint of the classic prescription Sanhua decoction based on headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(HS-GC-MS) technology, and to evaluate its overall quality by combining chemical pattern recognition with multi-index content determination methods.

METHODS  The volatile oil fingerprint profiles of 15 batches of Sanhua decoction reference samples were established using HS-GC-MS and evaluated for similarity. The overall quality was assessed through hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA), principal component analysis(PCA), and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA), combined with the determination of the contents of differential components. Furthermore, the volatile oil components of the reference samples and those prepared by modern processes were analyzed, and the upper and lower limits of their contents were defined to provide a reference for subsequent formulation development.

RESULTIS  A volatile oil fingerprint of Sanhua decoction was established by HS-GC-MS, with similarity to the reference fingerprint ranging from 0.935 to 0.994. Twenty-four common peaks were identified, corresponding to 21 components, 13 of which were designated as differential markers. The contents of the 5 principal differential components(α-terpinene, β-terpinene, limonene, γ-terpinene, and β-eudesmol) were determined as 4.309, 2.939, 16.387, 4.235, and 7.332 μg·g⁻¹, respectively. There was no significant difference in the composition of volatile oil between the reference sample and the modern process index components.

CONCLUSION The established method for analyzing the volatile oil content of the benchmark sample of Sanhua decoction is highly sensitive, simple, and reliable. It can provide a basis for the quality evaluation and formulation development of the classic prescription Sanhua decoction.