The difference of origin and extraction method significantly affects the intrinsic quality of licorice: A new method for quality evaluation of homologous materials of medicine and food

•Different origins and different extraction methods have an impact on the intrinsic quality of licorice.•The quantitative determination of 7 compounds of licorice with statistical significance was carried out.•Discriminant analysis was used to trace the origin of licorice.•A new method for quality evaluation of medicinal and food homologous medicinal materials. As a homologous material of both medicine and food, licorice is a famous traditional Chinese medicine. In the application process, different origins and different extraction methods have an impact on the intrinsic quality of licorice. In order to ensure the intrinsic quality of commercially available licorice products, and to explore the influence of origin and extraction methods on the quality of licorice, we put forward a simple and effective discriminatory method for “chemometrics analysis-based fingerprint establishment”. First, fingerprints of licorice ethanol extraction (LEE) and licorice water extraction (LWE) were established. Then, similarity analysis (SA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA) and other chemometrics methods were used to select qualitative and quantitative markers. Besides, the quantitative determination of 7 compounds of licorice with statistical significance was carried out, which provided accurate and informative data for quality evaluation. Finally, discriminant analysis was used to trace the origin of licorice.