Application of micellar solubilization technology in pilot production of Chinese materia medica cataplasma containing volatile oil / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: Through the studies on pilot production of the cataplasma of Chinese materia medica (CMM) containing volatile oil, to provide a rational and feasible preparation technology for the pilot production of CMM cataplasma, so as to promote the development of CMM cataplasma. Methods: The CMM containing volatile oil was extracted by steam distillation method (SDM), ethanol reflux extraction (ERE), and CO2 supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), respectively. The extracts were prepared to cataplasma in order to investigate the effects of extracting methods on the preparation process and quality of CMM cataplasma. The effects of micellar solubilization in the distilled liquid of STM on the quality of cataplasma such as adhesiveness, flexibleness, and stability were also investigated. Results: There was the significant difference among the groups of STM, ERE, and SFE on the quality of cataplasma. The extract by STM was beneficial to the preparation process and enhancement of the quality of cataplasma obviously, while the distilled liquid by STM would cause some limitations such as oil-water separation and volatile oil volatilization losses, which could contribute to obvious difference among batches. These disadvantages by STM would be overcome by the adoption of micellar solubilization technology and the stability would be increased (P < 0.01); segregation happened for the extract by ERE at room temperature, thereby, the water bath heating was needed in the preparation; this characteristics would cause the homogeneous appearance of cataplasma due to some black spots, lower flexibleness of matrix, and the preparation was not easy to control; the extract by SFE contained a lot of impurity of grease and performed half solid. As a result, it was very difficult to blend the extract by SFE with other materials uniformly, the adhesive force of cataplasma was also reduced. In addition, the cost of higher energy consumption and production was another disadvantage for SFE. Conclusion: The STM followed by micellar solubilization would be a feasible preparation technology for the pilot production of CMM cataplasma containing volatile oil, so it is worth popularizing and applying widely.