Platycodon grandiflorus (Jacq.) A.DC., a member of the Campanulaceae family, is a well-known medicinal herb traditionally used to relieve coughs, promote expectoration, reduce inflammation, and protect the respiratory system. In recent years, numerous commercial products containing Platycodon extracts have been introduced to the market. However, during processing and distribution, the morphological and anatomical features of the raw material are often lost or altered, increasing the risk of misidentification or adulteration with morphologically similar species, thereby compromising product quality and therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, the application of DNA barcode markers is essential for accurate species identification and quality control of raw materials. This study presents a dataset of P. grandiflorus samples collected from natural populations and analyzes four chloroplast DNA regions ( ndhC-trnV, rpoA, trnK-matK , and trnK-rps16 ) to support species identification. Phylogenetic analysis based on these sequences revealed that P. grandiflorus is closely related to, and clusters within, the Campanulaceae family, with high bootstrap support values (96–100%). These four chloroplast regions are proposed as potential DNA barcodes for the reliable identification and differentiation of P. grandiflorus from related species.
Ngo et al. (2026) studied this question.