ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the refining effects between ethanol precipitation and chitosan flocculation methods on extracting solutions of Shuyu compound granules.Methods Orthogonal experiment was utilized to examine the influence of liquid concentration, alcohol concentration and standing time on refining of Shuyu compound granules extracting solution by ethanol precipitation method, and compare the impact of ethanol precipitation and chitosan flocculation methods on the contents of solids and paeoniflorin.Results The optimized condition of ethanol precipitation method was 0.8 g/mL solution concentration (crude drug) with 20% ethanol standing for 6 h. Both ethanol precipitation method and chitosan flocculation method reduced the extraction ratio of Shuyu compound granules decoction, but chitosan flocculation method caused a great loss of paeoniflorin.Conclusion Low concentration ethanol precipitation method can be used for the purification of Shuyu compound granules. Whether chitosan flocculation method is suitable requires further study.