Abstract

The psbA-trnH intergenic region was studied for authenticating Curcuma longa and its two related species (Curcuma sichuanensis and Curcuma chuanhuangjiang). The sequences were analyzed by means of Neighbor-Joining to improve the phylogenetic resolution of these three Curcuma species. The genetic diversity of these three species is 0.009 to 0.014 (< 0.05). The results show that partial population specimens of C. sichuanensis originate from the cultivated mutation of C. longa; and retain the C. chuanhuangjiang as an individual species. The differentiation is engendered between the wildness and cultivated specimens within C. longa species.

Key words: Curcuma, Radix Curcumae, related species, DNA barcoding, psbA-trnH, phylogeny.