AUTHENTICATION OF THE CHINESE DRUG “KU DI DAN” (HERBA ELEPHANTOPI) AND ITS SUBSTITUTES USING RANDOM PRIMED POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR)

DNA fingerprinting and polymorphism among the Chinese drug “Ku Di Dan” and its substitutes were demonstrated with arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP PCR) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Distinctive, reproducible genomic fingerprints from DNA of the Chinese drug Ku Di Dan and 9 species of Compositae were generated with six long (18-24 mer) and one short (10 mer) random chosen primers with PCR. Ku Di Dan samples can be distinguished according to the banding patterns of their amplified DNA on agarose gels. Results showed that AP PCR and RAPD fingerprints of the commercial samples of Ku Di Dan retailed in Fujian, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau markets are identical with that of Elephantopus scaber L. The relatedness of Ku Di Dan among 9 plants may also be estimated by the Similarity Indexes values of the genomic DNA fingerprints.