Chemical fingerprinting techniques for the differentiation of polysaccharides from genus Astragalus

A generic strategy based on chemical fingerprinting is proposed for the differentiation of polysaccharides from Astragalus membranaceus (AEP) and A. mongholicus (AOP), using multiple chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques. Complete and mild acid hydrolysis and Smith degradation were employed for the depolymerization of polysaccharides. The corresponding digested products were efficiently separated and detected using GC–MS, HILIC-ELSD...