Objective:To establish a method for the analysis of volatile chemical compositions and determination of muscone in Moschus

explore the impact of species and producing areas on the quality of Moschus

and provide scientific basis for its quality evaluation. Method:Chemical compositions and contents of muscone in Moschus were analyzed by GC-MS

and chemometric analysis methods such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to comprehensively evaluate the effect of different species and producing areas on the quality of Moschus. Result:The volatile chemical compositions in three kinds of natural moschus (Moschus berezovskii

M. sifanicus

M. moschiferus) were similar and mainly included muscone

androsterone

dehydroepiandrosterone acetate

androstanediol

cholesterol and cholestanol

et al

but the relative contents of those compounds were different among the natural moschus of different species and producing areas. Artificial Moschus mainly contained muscone

epiandrosterone

ethyl oleate

hydroxybenzoic acid

stearic acid

and palmitic acid

et al

which was very different from natural Moschus. The average content of muscone was (1.21±0.42)% in M. berezovskii from different producing areas

(0.26±0.15)% in M. sifanicus from different producing areas

5.68% in M. moschiferus from Anhui province

and 5.07% in artificial Moschus. Conclusion:The Moschus of different species and producing areas had different chemical compositions and content of muscone

suggesting that different species and producing areas had great effects on the quality of Moschus

so it is necessary to pay attention to species and producing areas in the process of musk domestication; meanwhile

the artificial Moschus and natural Moschus also showed great differences in chemical compositions

suggesting that ratio in artificial Moschus prescription needs to be further optimized.