Research status and translational application of new extraction techniques of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

Extraction is the critical link during pharmaceutical process of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which is directly related to the quality of drugs. So the key to technology upgrading of pharmaceutical equipment in Chinese materia medica enterprise is the development of new extraction techniques, which concerns the modernization of TCM. In this paper, fundamentals, traits, and development status of new extraction technologies were firstly introduced, including ultrasound extraction, microwave extraction, super fluid extraction, semi-bionic extraction method, enzymatic treatment extraction, continuous countercurrent extraction, vacuum extraction. Then information of projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China was analyzed in order to recognize the assistance and research results of new extraction techniques. The patents authorized by the State Intellectual Property Office were also summarized for the purpose of understanding the achievement transformation. The information about extraction equipments was collected and screened to acquire the characteristics and market situation. The results showed that there are still problems about new extraction technologies, such as weak basic study, hard transformation of achievements, and the disconnection between research study and practical application. It is necessary to discuss the approaches and methods for accelerating the transformation of fundamental research, which will provide references for the long-term development of new extraction techniques of TCM.

Application characteristics and situation analysis of volatile oils in database of Chinese patent medicine / 中国中药杂志

Aromatic traditional Chinese medicines have a long history in China, with wide varieties. Volatile oils are active ingredients extracted from aromatic herbal medicines, which usually contain tens or hundreds of ingredients, with many biological activities. Therefore, volatile oils are often used in combined prescriptions and made into various efficient preparations for oral administration or external use. Based on the sources from the database of Newly Edited National Chinese Traditional Patent Medicines (the second edition), the author selected 266 Chinese patent medicines containing volatile oils in this paper, and then established an information sheet covering such items as name, dosage, dosage form, specification and usage, and main functions. Subsequently, on the basis of the multidisciplinary knowledge of pharmaceutics, traditional Chinese pharmacology and basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine, efforts were also made in the statistics of the dosage form and usage, variety of volatile oils and main functions, as well as the status analysis on volatile oils in terms of the dosage form development, prescription development, drug instruction and quality control, in order to lay a foundation for the further exploration of the market development situations of volatile oils and the future development orientation.