0944-7113/02/09/08-757 $ 15.00/0  Introduction Trifolium pratense (red clover) and Cimicifuga race- mosa (black cohosh) extracts are becoming increas- ingly popular for alleviating menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and reducing the risk of develop- ing osteoporosis (Duker et al., 1991; Clifton-Bligh et al., 2001; Fugh-Berman, 2001). The phytoestro- gens genistein, daidzein, biochanin A, and for- mononetin are considered to be the active compo- Phytomedicine 9: 757–762, 2002 © Urban & Fischer Verlag http://www.urbanfischer.de/journals/phytomed Phytomedicine REVIEW A preliminary RAPD-PCR analysis of Cimicifuga species and other botanicals used for women’s health H. Xu 1 , D. S. Fabricant 1,2 , C. E. Piersen 1,2 , J. L. Bolton 1,2 , J. M. Pezzuto 1,2 , H. Fong 1,2 , S. Totura 2 , N. R. Farnsworth 1,2 , and A. I. Constantinou 1,2,3 1 UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research 2 Program for Collaborative Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharma- cognosy, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 3 Department of Surgical Oncology, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois Summary Traditional taxonomic methods of botanical identification that rely primarily on morphological ob- servations cannot be used efficiently when only powdered plant materials are available. Thus, our objectives were to determine if we could apply a molecular approach to: a) produce unique DNA profiles that are characteristic of the species, and b) determine if the geographical area or time of col- lection influences these DNA profiles. Towards this end, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analyses were performed on a number of botanicals currently used for women’s health. The test materials included samples from three species each of the genera Cimicifuga (Actaea) and Tri- folium, as well as samples of Vitex agnus-castus L., Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Gingko biloba L., Valeriana officinalis L., Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels, Viburnum prunifolium L., Humulus lupulus L., Vaccini- um macrocarpon Ait., Panax ginseng C.A. Mey. Cimicifuga racemosa (L.) Nutt. and Trifolium pratense L. are currently under clinical investigation in our basic research laboratories and medical clinic for the relief of post-menopausal symptoms. Characteristic profiles produced with the OPC-15 primer could distinguish the three Cimicifuga species: C racemosa, C. americana and C. rubifolia. Similar results were obtained with the three Trifolium species: Trifolium pratense L., Trifolium incar- natum L., and Trifolium repens L. Accessions of cultivated T. pratense collected from the same field at different times, produced identical profiles. Accessions of Cimicifuga species collected from different geographical areas produced similar but not identical DNA profiles; however, species-specific DNA fragments were identified. These results demonstrate that RAPD analysis can be applied to distin- guish species when only powdered material is available for testing. This methodology can be applied to identify species of commercial value regardless of collection time or geographic area. Key words: RAPD, DNA profiles, Trifolium pratense, Cimicifuga racemosa, species identification