Discrimination of authentic Polyporus umbellatus and counterfeit by Fourier Transform Infrared and two dimensional infrared correlation spectroscopy

Polyporus umbellatus(PU) belongs to the family Polyporaceae in the phylum of Basidiomycota. The sclerotia is its main medicinal parts. It is reputedly used in traditional Chinese Medicine as anti-cancer agent and consequently is in high demand. A major problem on the medicinal use of this mushroom is the menace of the counterfeit product. Therefore, the detection of counterfeit PU and the confirmation of genuine PU are important. This study was done by collecting wild PU and cultivated PU and compared with a counterfeit which is commonly found in the market. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Two-Dimension Infrared (2DIR) for the qualitative analysis are often regarded as green methods because the original resources of the test sample are preserved. The different spectral patterns of the counterfeit PU compared with the genuine PU were clearly indicated in 1D FTIR spectrum. The 2DIR spectrum of counterfeit PU showed more than 70% dissimilarity compared to genuine PU. This rapid and simple sample preparation enhances the speed of qualitative analysis on PU and rapidly determines their differences in term of their raw material content and the active site of certain compounds.