Metabolomic Analysis of Echinacea spp. by 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry and Multivariate Data analysis Technique

Introduction - The genus Echinacea (Asteraceae) comprises about 10 species originally distributed in North America. Three species are very well known as they are used worldwide as medicinal plants: Echinacea purpurea, E. pallida, E. angustifolia. Objective - To discriminate between these three Echinacea species and E. simulata by H-1 NMR-based metabolomics. Methodology - H-1 NMR and multivariate analysis techniques were applied to diverse Echinacea plants including roots and aerial parts, authentic plants, commercial plants and commercial dry extracts. Results - Using the 1H NMR metabolomics, it was possible, without previous evaporation or separation steps, to obtain a metabolic fingerprint to distinguish between species. Conclusion - A clear distinction between the three pharmaceutical species was possible and some useful metabolites were identified. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.