Headspace gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry for rapid and accurate authentication of Panax notoginseng powder: Identifying adulteration with wheat flour, corn starch, and yellow dextrin

The global demand for Panax notoginseng powder has surged greatly because of its pharmacological efficacy. However, an escalation in adulteration practices has raised substantial concerns. We aimed to establish a headspace gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS) method for detecting adulteration in P. notoginseng . Pure P. notoginseng powder was mixed with wheat flour, corn starch, and yellow dextrin at 10 %, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, and 80 % ( w/w ). HS-GC-IMS showed minimal visual divergence between P. notoginseng powders adulterated with low levels of wheat flour (10 %, 20 %, and 40 %) and those with different ratios of cornstarch or yellow dextrin. Ninety-five volatile compounds were detected in the 19 samples, including aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, esters, acids, terpenes, heterocycles, nitrides, and sulfides. Principal component analysis based on the signal intensity of the volatile compounds effectively discriminated pure P. notoginseng from adulterated samples ( R 2  > 0.94, Q 2  > 0.91). Propanoic acid, acetic acid, methyl acetate, butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, 1-heptanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, octanal, (E)-2-heptenal, pentanal, benzaldehyde, furfural, citronellal, 2-propenal, 2-decanone, acetone, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, and pinene were identified as volatile markers for P. notoginseng authentication. Partial least squares discriminant analysis confirmed the reliability of the results ( R 2 of X-axis > 0.65, R 2 of Y-axis > 0.994, and Q 2  > 0.984). In conclusion, HS-GC-IMS is a valuable tool for the rapid, accurate, and simple determination of P. notoginseng adulteration.