Abstract
The root of Sophora flavescens is used as a Chinese crude drug for treating various disorders. S. flavescens is grown in Japan, China and Korea. We previously used Principle Component Analysis (PCA) to demonstrate that 1H NMR spectra of root extracts of S. flavescens can be used to identify the country of origin of the sample (Japan or China). In the present study we identified a compound characteristic of Chinese S. flavescens using NMR metabolomics. Loading plot analysis of the PCA results and an NMR metabolomics study identified NMR signals from a compound identified as nor-kurarinone and characteristic of Chinese S. flavescens grown in Hangzhou. This compound was confirmed by HPLC analysis to be a distinctive marker for Chinese S. flavescens.