Development of Electrochemical fingerprints for Quick sensing identification of Epimedium Koreanum Nakai

Electrochemical fingerprinting has emerged as a promising technique for the rapid and reliable characterization of complex plant matrices. This study presents the development of an electrochemical fingerprinting method using graphene-modified screen-printed carbon electrodes (G-SPCEs) for the identification and quality control of Epimedium koreanum Nakai, a widely used medicinal plant. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was employed to record the fingerprints, and the influence of experimental conditions, such as supporting electrolyte and pH, was investigated. The G-SPCEs exhibited significantly enhanced sensitivity and resolution compared to bare SPCEs, with peak current ratios (IG-SPCE/ISPCE) ranging from 2.8 to 3.5. The variability of the fingerprints among samples from different geographical origins was assessed, revealing distinct patterns and peak current ratios. Machine learning algorithms, including support vector machines (SVM), random forest (RF), and k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), were applied for species identification, with SVM achieving the highest accuracy of 95.6%. The potential applications of the method in detecting adulteration and monitoring batch-to-batch variability were demonstrated. This study highlights the advantages of electrochemical fingerprinting over traditional methods and its promising potential for the authentication and quality control of medicinal plants.