Abstract: Based on wavelet transform and data visualization, a type of NIR fingerprinting was proposed and applied to assessing the quality of Danshen(Radix salviae miltirrhizae). First, wavelet transform was performed to extract the feature information from the raw NIR spectra. And then, the extracted information was represented by the data visualization. The integral pattern difference of the Danshen samples could be identified intuitively with the proposed method. HPLC fingerprints were also collected, and they were used as the reference. It was shown that the results obtained from NIR fingerprint was consistent with that of the corresponding HPLC fingerprint. As a fast and non-destructive method for quality assessment of natural products, the potential of NIR fingerprinting is exemplarily shown in this paper.

Key words: NIR spectroscopy, Wavelet transform, Data visualization, Chemical fingerprinting, Danshen