ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the qualities of different processed products of Gastrodia elata Bl. f. glauca S. Chow, such as steamed, wine-processed, ginger-processed and tribulus-processed products, and determine the optimum processing method of Gastrodia elata. METHODS: HPLC was employed to determine gastrodin and 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, and phenol-sulfuric acid method was used to detect the content of gastrodia polysaccharide. RESULTS: Gastrodin and gastrodia polysaccharides had the highest contents(1.901 and 3.246 mg·g-1, respectively) in the tribulus-processed products; and the highest content of 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol in ginger-processed Gastrodia elata was 0.80 mg·g-1; gastrodin in two kinds of wine-processed products was lower than the others, while the content of gastrodia polysaccharide in Gastrodia elata processed by wine-soaking for three days was obviously less than those in the other products. CONCLUSION: The traditional tribulus-processed method is better than the modern steaming method. This study can provide scientific basis for the mechanism of traditional processing method of Gastrodia elata.