Quality Evaluation of Sojae Semen Praeparatum from Different Origins Based on Fingerprint and Multicomponent Quantification Combined with Entropy Weight-TOPSIS Model

OBJECTIVE  To comprehensively evaluate the quality of Sojae Semen Praeparatum decoction pieces from different origins using the integrated analytical method based on fingerprint qualitative, multi-index differential component quantification and chemometrics combined with entropy weight TOPSIS method.

METHODS  The appearance characteristics and thin-layer chromatography(TLC) identification were carried out for 32 batches of Sojae Semen Praeparatum from different origins. An HPLC fingerprint was established and similarity analysis was performed using ChromCore 300 C₁₈ chromatographic column(4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm), acetonitrile-0.1% acetic acid as mobile phase of gradient elution, flow rate of 1.0 mL·min⁻¹, detection wavelength of 260 nm, column temperature of 30 ℃, injection volume of 10 μL. Hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis were used to screen the different components, and entropy weight-TOPSIS was used to evaluate the quality of Sojae Semen Praeparatum.

RESULTS  The index results of all batches of Sojae Semen Praeparatum met the requirements of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia, but there were differences in the quality of decoction pieces. The similarity of HPLC fingerprint of 32 batches of Sojae Semen Praeparatum was 0.807–0.990, 20 common peaks were calibrated. The results of stoichiometric analysis were consistent, the samples could be divided into 6 groups according to different origins, and 6 different index components(daidzin, glycitin, genistin, daidzein, glycitein, genistein) were screened according to VIP value. The evaluation result of entropy weight TOPSIS method showed that the comprehensive quality of S3 batch of Sojae Semen Praeparatum decoction pieces from Hebei origin was the best.

CONCLUSION  The established quality evaluation method for Sojae Semen Praeparatum is simple and feasible. Combined with chemometrics analysis, it can achieve the discrimination and attribution of Sojae Semen Praeparatum from different origins. The entropy weight-TOPSIS model can evaluate the comprehensive quality of different batches of Sojae Semen Praeparatum, providing a reference for improving its overall quality control.