ABSTRACT
Objective An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method was established for the determination of inorganic elements in stems and leaves of Scutellaria baicalensis. The inorganic elements in the extracts were analyzed and evaluated. Methods ICP-MS was applied to determine 23 kinds of inorganic elements in samples digested by microwave in stems and leaves of S. baicalensis from eight regions, and the results were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation analysis. Results There were no differences in the types of inorganic elements in stems and leaves of S. baicalensis from different regions, but the content of them varied greatly. Among them, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, Sr, B, and Ni were essential elements of the human body. The content of Al and Fe was the highest, and the content of B, Ti, Mn, Sr, and Ba was higher than others. The total content of heavy metals and harmful elements of samples were up to the mustard, except S10. The contents of Cd in S2, S10 and S22-S30 exceeded standards. Thirty-five batches stems and leaves of S. baicalensis were divided into eight groups, which were analyzed by thePCA with the contents of 23 elements as variates. These regions which have different geographies and climates might lead to the differences in the contents of inorganic elements in the samples. Four factors (F1-F4) were selected to make a comprehensive evaluation. The evaluation function was F = 0.444 2 F1 + 0.166 6 F2 + 0.129 1 F3 + 0.056 4 F4. The results showed that the scores of samples from Shanxi and Shaanxi were higher, which indicated that the qualities of above samples were better than those of other samples. Conclusion In this study, an accurate and efficient method for the analysis and determination of inorganic elements in stems and leaves of S. baicalensis from different regions was established, which provided a scientific reference for the quality control, safety evaluation, and comprehensive utilization of S. baicalensis resource.
ABSTRACT
To establish the suitable modern drying processing parameters for Scrophulariae Radix (SR). With reference to the traditional drying processing method of SR and the characteristics of modern drying equipment, the drying process for SR was simulated as the following three stages: temperature-controlled drying-tempering-temperature-controlled drying. Eighteen batches of SR samples were obtained by the drying methods after the orthogonal design experiment with seven factors namely temperature, wind speed, and target moisture for the first stage, tempering time and temperature, as well as temperature and wind speed for the second stage. UPLC-TQ-MS was applied for determination of nine target compounds including catalpol, harpagide, verbascoside, ferulic acid, angroside-C, aucubin, harpagoside, cinnamic acid and ursolic acid in those dried samples and another 19 batches of SR samples collected from genuine producing area. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed, and total energy consumption was also taken into consideration for analysis and evaluation. Results showed that the optimal drying processing method for SR was as follows: drying temperature of 60 ℃, drying wind speed of 50 Hz, and 50% for target moisture in the first stage; 24 h for tempering time and temperature of 20 ℃ in the second stage; drying temperature of 60 ℃, and drying wind speed of 30 Hz in the third stage. The medicinal materials with optimized modern drying processing method were extremely similar to those collected from genuine producing area in the aspect of both external properties and target compounds, and they were in line with the 2015 version of "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" requirements. In addition, they could help to shorten the drying time and increase the efficiency of primary processing, and thus promote the normalization and standardization of primary drying processing for SR.