Discrimination of Dendrobium officinale and Its Common Adulterants by Combination of Normal Light and Fluorescence Microscopy

Molecules

Chu Chu²  Huimin Yin²  Li Xia¹  Dongping Cheng²  Jizhong Yan² 

[1] Guangdong Food and Drug Vocational College, Guangzhou 510520, China; E-Mail:;College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China; E-Mails:

关键词: discrimination;    Dendrobium officinale;    adulterants;    normal light microscopy;    fluorescence microscopy;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules19033718

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The stems of Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo, named Tie-pi-shi-hu, is one of the most endangered and precious species in China. Because of its various pharmacodynamic effects, D. officinale is widely recognized as a high-quality health food in China and other countries in south and south-east Asia. With the rising interest of D. officinale, its products have a high price due to a limited supply. This high price has led to the proliferation of adulterants in the market. To ensure the safe use of D. officinale, a fast and convenient method combining normal and fluorescence microscopy was applied in the present study to distinguish D. officinale from three commonly used adulterants including Zi-pi-shi-hu (D. devonianum), Shui-cao-shi-hu (D. aphyllum), Guang-jie-shi-hu (D. gratiosissimum). The result demonstrated that D. officinale could be identified by the characteristic “two hat-shaped” vascular bundle sheath observed under the fluorescence microscopy and the distribution of raphides under normal light microscopy. The other three adulterants could be discriminated by the vascular bundle differences and the distribution of raphides under normal light microscopy. This work indicated that combination of normal light and fluorescence microscopy is a fast and efficient technique to scientifically distinguish D. officinale from the commonly confused species.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.