Fourier transform mid-infrared (MIR) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for rapid quality assessment of Chinese medicine preparation Honghua Oil.

Honghua Oil (HHO), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) oil preparation, is a mixture of several plant essential oils. In this text, the extended ranges of Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) and near infrared (FT-NIR) were recorded for 48 commercially available HHOs of different batches from nine manufacturers. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of three marker components, alpha-pinene, methyl salicylate and eugenol, in different HHO products were performed rapidly by the two vibrational spectroscopic methods, i.e. MIR with horizontal attenuated total reflection (HATR) accessory and NIR with direct sampling technique, followed by partial least squares (PLS) regression treatment of the set of spectra obtained. The results indicated that it was successful to identify alpha-pinene, methyl salicylate and eugenol in all of the samples by simple inspection of the MIR-HATR spectra. Both PLS models established with MIR-HATR and NIR spectral data using gas chromatography (GC) peak areas as calibration reference showed a good linear correlation for each of all three target substances in HHO samples. The above spectroscopic techniques may be the promising methods for the rapid quality assessment/quality control (QA/QC) of TCM oil preparations.

[A rapid method for identification of genus lycium by FTIR spectroscopy].

In this article, a method of using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify 7 species and 3 variations of genus lycium (Gouqi) in China is described. This method is based on the additive IR absorptions of the chemical components and the differences of their relative contents in various Gouqi. These differences are reflected in the FTIR spectra. The method provides a novel fingerprinting technique for the identification and differentiation of traditional Chinese medicine. Such technique can serve as a rapid, simple, reliable and non-destructive analytical method for Gouqi as a Chinese material medication.

Fingerprint profiling of acid hydrolyzates of polysaccharides extracted from the fruiting bodies and spores of Lingzhi by high-performance thin-layer chromatography.

Modern extraction and planar chromatographic instrumentation were employed for the fingerprint profiling of carbohydrates from an important and popular medicinal mushroom commonly known as Lingzhi. For the first time, the feasibility of employing the high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) peak profiles (fingerprints) of carbohydrates for the screening of various Lingzhi species/products was demonstrated. An analytical procedure was developed such that upon acid hydrolysis of the polysaccharides extracted from various Lingzhi samples, fingerprint profiles that reveal the relative amounts of the degradation products, such as mono- and oligosaccharides, can be obtained using HPTLC plates (Si 50000) for separation and 4-aminobenzoic acid as the post-chromatographic derivatization reagent for detection. Also, using automated multiple development (AMD), the acid hydrolyzates from Lingzhi, consisting of simple and more complex sugars, can be separated simultaneously with high degree of automation. An important finding was that unique fingerprint patterns were observed in the monosaccharide profiles between two highly valued Lingzhi species, Ganoderma applanatum and Ganoderma lucidum, under total or partial acid hydrolysis conditions. Additionally, the HPTLC fingerprint profiles of carbohydrates were obtained from the extracts of the spores and fruiting bodies of Lingzhi and compared.

Pressurized liquid extraction of active ingredients (ginsenosides) from medicinal plants using non-ionic surfactant solutions.

The feasibility of employing aqueous non-ionic surfactant solutions as an alternative solvent system in pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) is demonstrated for the first time using the roots of American ginseng as model solid samples. When compared to the use of pure water or methanol, the presence of a common non-ionic surfactant (Triton X-100) in water at a concentration above its critical micelle concentration was shown to enhance the amount of pharmacologically active ingredients (ginsenosides) extracted from ginseng roots. The advantages of using aqueous non-surfactant solutions were also demonstrated by comparing extraction performances between ultrasonic-assisted extraction and PLE methods. Furthermore, the combination of PLE and cloud point extraction was shown to be a new and effective approach for the rapid sample preconcentration of herbal materials prior to analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography.

[A rapid method for detecting seven kinds of American ginseng tea bags by FTIR spectroscopy].

A rapid and non-destructive method, was used to identify seven commercial American Ginseng Tea bags by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in this paper. It could be seen from the results, that each sample has its own characteristic infrared spectrum. Also, the seven tea bags could be divided into two groups: one is made from pure Ginseng powders, and the other is made by Ginseng extractives and additives. The information of additives used by factories could be identified by IR spectra. For example, some factories use glucose, and the others use sucrose as the additives. Furthermore, the quality of the tea bags was identified by the intensity ratio of Ginsengs and additives. In HPLC, the total saponin in tea bags made from Ginseng powders is 4 times higher than that made by Ginseng extractives. Therefore, HPLC analysis gave the same result with FTIR. It is proved that FTIR is a very fast, simple and reliable method to identify Chinese medicine.