Comparative Study Between Bran Stir-fried and Sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus Based on Chemometrics

OBJECTIVE To carry out the quality evaluation and comparative study of bran stir-fried and sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus by using fingerprints and chemometrics, which provide some scientific basis for clinical selection and use of the two decoction pieces. METHODS According to Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020 edition and "Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine Processing Standards" (2008 edition), two kinds of decoction pieces of bran stir-fried and sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus were processed. The quantitative fingerprints of the two kinds of decoction pieces were established by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography. The similarity analysis was carried out by the software "Chinese Medicine Chromatographic Fingerprint Similarity Evaluation System". The 14 common components and synephrine in the fingerprints were compared by chemometrics in the two decoction pieces. And the 9 identified components were quantitatively analyzed and compared by chromatography. RESULTS The similarity of the fingerprints of the bran stir-fried and sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus with their respective controls was greater than 0.9, and the similarity of the same batch of bran stir-fried and sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus was greater than 0.9. By comparing with the reference substance, 8 common peaks of narirutin, naringin, rhoifolin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, naringenin, hesperetin and nobiletin were identified. The results of cluster analysis showed that there was no obvious clustering of the two decoction pieces. PCA analysis showed that bran stir-fried and sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus could not be completely distinguished into two categories. The VIP method screened out 7 components that had a greater impact on the distinction between bran stir-fried and sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus, namely naringenin, naringin, rhoifolin, X8, hesperetin, nobiletin and X1. The results of quantitative analysis showed that compared with the bran stir-fried Aurantii Fructus Immaturus, the content of naringin in the sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus was lower, and the contents of rhoifolin and naringenin were higher, all of which were significantly different. CONCLUSION The quantitative fingerprints of bran stir-fried and sand-scalded Aurantii Fructus Immaturus and the quality evaluation method for the determination of flavonoids multi-component content are established. The results of the study could provide some scientific basis for the clinical selection of the two decoction pieces of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus.