Chemical Fingerprints Combined with Chemometric Analysis to Evaluate and Distinguish Between Plantago Asiatica L. and Plantago Depressa Willd.

This article focuses on establishing a reliable method to differentiate and evaluate the quality of two Plantago species—Plantago asiatica L. (PAL) and Plantago depressa Willd. (PDW)—commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprinting combined with multivariate chemometric analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), the study identified three key chemical markers—plantamajoside, acteoside, and isoacteoside—that distinguish the two species. Results showed significant differences in the content of these markers, with plantamajoside predominant in PAL and acteoside in PDW, despite their similar chemical composition types. The findings provide a scientific basis for quality control and safe, effective application of these Plantago species in herbal medicine.