Two birds with one switchable deep eutectic solvent: Integration of digestion and extraction for multi-ingredient quantitative analysis and quality evaluation of Amomi fructus.

Amomi fructus (A. fructus) is a functional food with high edible and medicinal value. Herein, a dual-function switchable deep eutectic solvent (SDES) was synthesized for integrated extraction of phenolic compounds and digestion of A. fructus. The SDES achieved rapid extraction (5 min) with efficiencies 1.2-2.8-fold higher than water and ethanol methods, respectively, while its digestion efficacy for mineral analysis via inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) exhibited good consistency with microwave digestion. Based on the quantitative analysis results, multivariate statistical analysis by the correlation analysis, the cluster analysis, and the principal component analysis was carried out for the quality evaluation of A. fructus sourced from various origins within Yunnan province. The comprehensive evaluation system of A. fructus based on SDES can provide certain reference for the quality evaluation, control, and the security analysis of A. fructus.