Construction of inorganic elemental fingerprint and multivariate statistical analysis of marine traditional Chinese medicine Meretricis concha from Rushan Bay

Meretricis concha is a kind of marine traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and has been commonly used for the treatment of asthma and scald burns. In order to investigate the relationship between the inorganic elemental fingerprint and the geographical origin identification of Meretricis concha, the elemental contents of M. concha from five sampling points in Rushan Bay have been determined by means of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Based on the contents of 14 inorganic elements (Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn), the inorganic elemental fingerprint which well reflects the elemental characteristics was constructed. All the data from the five sampling points were discriminated with accuracy through hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principle component analysis (PCA), indicating that a four-factor model which could explain approximately 80% of the detection data was established, and the elements Al, As, Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb could be viewed as the characteristic elements. This investigation suggests that the inorganic elemental fingerprint combined with multivariate statistical analysis is a promising method for verifying the geographical origin of M. concha, and this strategy should be valuable for the authenticity discrimination of some marine TCM.