Effects of Sulphur Fumigation on Content of Imperatorin in Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Baizhi) / 中国中医药信息杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study whether sulphur fumigation can cause changes to the content of imperatorin in Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Baizhi).Methods The fresh samples of Angelicae Dahuricae Radix were collected from some cultivation bases. Half of each batch root was fumigated with sulfur according to the conventional method, and another half was cut into slices and dried naturally (i.e. without sulfur fumigation). The content of imperatorin was determined by HPLC on C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5μm) with a gradient mobile phase of acetonitrile-water solution system at the follow rate of 1.0 mL/min, 35℃ of the column temperature, and the max plot in 210-800 nm of the detective wavelength.ResultsTotally 29 batches of fresh roots ofAngelica dahurica were collected. The average contents of imperatorin were 0.202% in the Angelicae Dahuricae Radix with sulfur fumigation and 0.120% in the Angelicae Dahuricae Radix without sulfur fumigation. Compared with the corresponding samples without sulfur fumigation, the content of imperatorin in every Angelicae Dahuricae Radix with sulfur fumigation decreased by 6.77%-77.56% with an average decrease of 39.86%.Conclusion The content of imperatorin decreased significantly in every batch of Angelicae Dahuricae Radix with sulphur fumigation. It shows that the sulphur fumigation method was not suitable for producing and processing Angelicae Dahuricae Radix from fresh roots ofA. dahurica.