Rapid discrimination of commercial American ginseng and Asian ginseng according to diols composition using a colorimetric sensor array

American ginseng and Asian ginseng products have similar appearance, however, the huge price differences for various species and grades of ginseng lead to the widespread adulteration in the commercial market. We herein reported an efficient colorimetric sensor array for ginseng discrimination through analysis of diols composition (e.g. monosaccharide and ginsenoside). The sensor array was rationally designed based on two mechanisms, changes in pH and indicators displacement assay (IDA), with phenylboronic acid as the receptor to diols. The excellent discrimination capability of the sensor array was validated upon analysis of different species or concentrations of monosaccharides in ginseng hydrolysate. 40 ginseng samples within three categories (cultivated American ginseng, wild American ginseng and Asian ginseng) were successfully classified using the sensor array coupled with a statistical analysis such as hierarchy cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). Our work provided a simple and effective method for the fast discrimination and quality control of ginseng products.