Objective To detect and compare the contents of multiple indexes in Homalomena occulta from different producing areas, and to provide basis for quality evaluation of H. occulta. Methods In this study, 19 batches of H. occulta were collected. An HPLC method was performed on a CenturySIL C₁₈ BDS column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) with acetonitrile-0.3% phosphoric acid as the mobile phase under gradient elution and wavelength switching detection at 260, 330 and 210 nm to simultaneously determine the contents of 11 components (protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, apigenin, pinocembrin, daucosterol, β- sitosterol, stigmasterol, ursolic acid, betulinic acid). The content of linalool was determined, and the alcohol-soluble extract, total ash and acid-insoluble ash were examined according to the 2025 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), factor analysis (FA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and grey relational analysis (GRA) were comprehensively applied to evaluate the quality of H. occulta from different producing areas and to screen the quality difference markers. Results The contents of each index in 19 batches of H. occulta were protocatechuic acid 0.251—0.903 mg/g, caffeic acid 0.171—0.294 mg/g, ferulic acid 0.041—0.101 mg/g, quercetin 0.265—0.490 mg/g, apigenin 0.144—0.250 mg/g, pinocembrin 0.046-0.088 mg/g, daucosterol 0.237—0.509 mg/g, β-sitosterol 0.394—1.153 mg/g, stigmasterol 0.102—0.218 mg/g, ursolic acid 0.154—0.328 mg/g, betulinic acid 0.071—0.116 mg/g, linalool 3.022—5.079 mg/g, extract 19.5%—33.5%, total ash 2.4%—6.5% and acid-insoluble ash 0.5%—1.2%. Chemical pattern recognition analysis showed that there were some differences in the quality of H. occulta in different producing areas. The 19 batches of samples were divided into 3 groups, and the samples with similar origin were divided into one group. The quality difference markers of each sample were linalool, quercetin, ursolic acid, β-sitosterol and protocatechuic acid. The quality evaluation results of factor analysis and grey correlation analysis were consistent, which showed that the quality of S15—S19 samples from Guangxi was better. Conclusion By analyzing and comparing the contents of multiple indexes in H. occulta from different producing areas, the quality difference markers for distinguishing each sample were determined, which can provide a method reference for the quality evaluation of H. occulta.

Homalomena occulta (Lour.) Schott  /  HPLC  /  chemometrics  /  grey relational analysis  /  comprehensive evaluation  /  protocatechuic acid  /  caffeic acid  /  ferulic acid  /  quercetin  /  apigenin  /  pinocembrin  /  daucosterol  /  β-sitosterol  /  stigmasterol  /  ursolic acid  /  betulinic acid