Influence of washing before drying on active components of Salvia Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To research the influence of different washing methods before drying on the contents of active components in Salvia Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, and provide the basis for standard original processing methods of Salvia miltiorrhiza. Methods: The fresh herbs of S. miltiorrhiza were processed with different methods including no washing, water flushing, immersion cleaning, and scrubbing in water. HPLC was applied to determine the contents of active components, with Diamonsil C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm), acetonitrile-0.026% phosphoric acid for gradient elution, flow rate of 1 mL/min, and detection wave length of 286 and 270 nm. Results: The contents of rosmarinic acid, salvianolic B, crypotanshinone, tanshinone I, and tanshinone IIA were all significantly decreased in S. miltiorrhiza processed with different washing methods. The contents of active components were reduced with the increasing of washing intensity, of which the lowest contents were found in scrubbing group. Conclusion: Washing with water can make loss of active components, and flushing may be a more suitable method. In order to decrease the content loss of active components, contact time with water must be controlled as short as possible and violent friction among medicinal materials and artificial rubbing must be avoided.