Detecting the Components of Botanical Mixtures by Single-Strand Conformation Polymorphism Analysis

摘要

Botanical supplements are increasingly being used in the United States, and of major importance is the authenticity of their ingredients. Here we describe a molecular method for species identification that takes advantage of the species variation in the internal-transcribed spacer region of the 18S-23S rDNA of plants. We show that analysis of the ITS-2 region by single-strand conformation polymorphism facilitates the detection of botanical ingredients and potentially contaminating plant material, which can subsequently be identified by DNA sequencing. Our method is useful for authenticating plant species prior to their being processed for manufacture as botanical products and also for recognizing contaminating or adulterating species in dried or powdered botanicals.