Abstract: To analyze the differences in volatile oil components between new and old Huaijiang from the Bo’ai County and to provide key data for the development and utilization of its medicinal resources, the volatile oil components of 16 Huaijiang samples collected from 8 sampling sites in Bo’ai County were systematically analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with chemometrics. The results showed that a total of 42 chemical components were identified from the Huaijiang samples and classified by functional group and structure, including 28 alkenes, 7 alcohols, 2 ketones, 2 esters, 1 aldehyde, and 2 other compounds. Among these, α-pinene, camphene, β-copaene, γ-muurolene, (-,-)-β-sesquiphellandrene, and γ-eudesmol were common to all samples. Based on the results of principal component analysis (PCA), orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), the samples were categorized into three groups: old ginger from Yangzhuang Village, Yueshan Town; new ginger from Zhangruji Village, Jincheng Township; and Huaijiang from other regions. Nine differential components between new and old Huaijiang were identified via OPLS-DA. Comprehensive analysis of the volatile oil components showed that the contents of β-elemene, zingiberene, longifolene, β-caryophyllene, (-)-alloaromadendrene, geranyl-p-cymene, and geranyl-α-terpineol were generally higher in new ginger than in old ginger across all samples. Notably, citronellyl acetate was unique to new ginger among the 16 samples, being undetected in the seven old ginger samples.

Key words: Huaijiang, volatile oil, GC-MS, chemometrics, principal component analysis