Discrimination of Semen cassiae from two related species based on the multivariate analysis of high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprints

A simple and efficient high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprint method was developed to discriminate Semen cassiae from two related species: Cassia obtusifolia L. (CO) and Cassia tora L. (CT), the seeds of which are abbreviated as COS and CTS, respectively. 22 major bioactive ingredients in 42 samples (20 COS and 22 CTS) collected from different provinces of China were identified. The statistical methods included similarity analysis and partial least‐squares discriminant analysis. The pattern analysis method was specific and could be readily used for the comprehensive evaluation of Semen cassiae samples. Therefore, high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprint in combination with pattern analysis provided a simple and reliable method for discriminating between COS and CTS.