OBJECTIVE To establish the HPLC fingerprint of Wenyujin Rhizome Concisum, and to analyze the samples on the market in combination with chemical pattern recognition.

METHODS Octadecylsilane-bonded silica gel was used as the filler, acetonitrile-0.1% phosphoric acid solution was adopted as the mobile phase for gradient elution, and the detection wavelength was set at 210 nm. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry was employed to identify the differential components of genus Curcuma samples from different origins and to establish a specific fingerprint of Wenyujin Rhizoma Concisum that distinguished it from other adulterants. SIMCA 13.0 software was applied to perform partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA), and the source identification and evaluation of commercial Wenyujin Rhizoma Concisum samples were conducted.

RESULTS Significant and relatively stable compositional differences were existed among genus Curcuma samples from different origins. Key differential components were zederone, curdione, curcumafuranol, furanodienone, et al. PLS-DA could distinguish commercial Wenyujin Rhizoma Concisum samples, most of which were adulterated with Curcuma phaeocaulis Val..

CONCLUSION The established fingerprint for Wenyujin Rhizoma Concisum is stable, reliable and reproducible. It can distinguish genus Curcuma from different origins, and can be used for the quality evaluation of Wenyujin Rhizoma Concisum.