Technology of combining field processing and crude drug processing of Anemarrhenae Rhizoma / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To optimize the method for integration of field processing and crude drug preparation of Anemarrhenae Rhizoma (AR) and to provide scientific evidence for the procedure of AR. Methods Four main factors including drying temperature of the fresh herbal medicine, the water content of the medicine, thickness of the products, and the drying temperature of decoction pieces were studied by using single factor experiment and orthogonal test. The content of timosaponin B-Ⅱ and mangiferin and the appearance of the products were selected as evaluation indexes to optimize the integral processing of AR by using comprehensive evaluating method. The changing of the body temperature of yeast-induced rat model was used to compare the antipyretic activity between the two processing technologies (the integration technology and traditional technology). The content of the blood glucose, insulin, and glycosylated serum proteins (GSP) in the blood of the STZ-induced diabetic rat model were selected as the evaluation indexes to compare the hypoglycemic activity between the two processing technologies. Results AR was dried at 50 ℃ for 11 h (water content of medicinal materials was 45%—50%), and then the flosses were knocked off in the drum for 30 min. The results showed that 40—50 ℃ was the best drying temperature, 45%—50% was the best water content, and then unhairing process were conducted for AR for 30 min. The thickness of the slice was 4 mm and the best drying temperature was 50 ℃. There were no significant differences in chemical composition and hypoglycemic activity between the integration technology and traditional technology, while the antipyretic effect of the integrated processing was better than that of the traditional technology. Conclusion The technology of integration of field processing and crude drug processing is feasible and it can be used in industrial production.