Safety evaluation of new Angelica sinensis varieties cultivated with ionizing radiation / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the safety of new Angelica sinensis species with ionizing radiation. Methods GC was adopted to determine the organochlorine pesticide residues; ICP-MS was used to identify the contents of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and copper (Cu); Mercury vapourmeter was used to determine the content of mercury (Hg); Atomic fluorescence spectrometry was used to identify the content of asenic (As). Adopting gray correlation as experiment method and taking the total ash, acid-insoluble ash, heavy metals, and harmful elements content as evaluation indexes, combined with acute toxicity test on mice, the study is to evaluate the safety of the new A. sinensis varieties cultivated with ionizing radiation. Results The results show that the organochlorine pesticide residues, heavy metals, and harmful elements contents in Mingui No.3 and Mingui No.4 comply with regulations in "Green Industry Standards for the Import and Export of Medicinal Plants and Preparations of the People's Republic of China". Comprehensive evaluation of the safety of the samples with gray correlation degree showed that the safety of Mingui No.3 and Mingui No.4 was superior to other samples. The enrichment degrees of different parts of A. sinensis on heavy metals and harmful elements were different The head of A. sinensis presented higher enrichment degree on the heavy metals lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and copper (Cu), the tail shows higher enrichment degree on such heavy metals as arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg), and the body presented lower enrichment degree on heavy metals. In the acute toxicity experiment of mice, LD50 was not measured in the mice and the maximum tolerance of mice was 120 g/kg, equivalent to 480 times the clinically maximum amount of adults (60 kg). Conclusion There is no obvious toxicity in new A. sinensis species with ionizing radiation, and the clinical usual dosage is safe and feasible.