Integrating Chemical Profiling and Genomic Techniques for Quality Control and Authentication of Single Herbs, Mixtures, and Products: A Case Study on Verbena officinalis L.

The first systematic phytochemical and genomic analysis of Verbena officinalisand its two counterfeit products was conducted.Developed three chemotaxonomic markers and two DNA mini-barcodes for identifying V. officinalis herbs and their products.Revealed adulteration in V. officinalisherbal products through quality evaluationfor the first time.Proposed an integrated approach that combines chemical assays (UHPLC and UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) with DNA-based authentication(DNAbarcoding and metabarcoding) for more effective quality control in various sample categories (herbs, herbal mixtures and herbal products).