Prospective analysis for application of functional magnetic resonance imaging technology in masking evaluation of Chinese materia medica preparations / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Taste design and taste masking evaluation is an important part of Chinese materia medica (CMM) preparations design. From the traditional volunteers’ evaluation, animal preference experiments to chemical composition quantitative analysis and electronic tongue intelligent taste evaluation, the sensitivity and resolution of the analysis method are getting higher and higher, however, the correlation with the real feeling of the human body is getting lower and lower. How to satisfy the objective authenticity, high sensitivity, and real-time dynamic quantification of the detection method is an important direction in the development of taste masking technology of CMM preparations. In recent years, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology has been widely used in the clinical diagnosis, acupuncture effect study, and food industry, etc. The basic conditions of fMRI used to taste masking evaluation of CMM preparation tend to mature. In this paper, the basic principle, experimental design and data processing methods of fMRI were introduced, and the influence factors of the experiment were analyzed from the human body and the samples. On this basis, the author puts forward the standard substance concentration-the sensory level of volunteers-brain signal intensity correlation research ideas. It will provide new methods for product optimization and taste improvement of CMM preparations, and also promote the quality evaluation of CMM preparations from experience to scientific evidence.