Planta Med 2011; 77 - P_67
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1273596

Optimum Processing of Bupleuri Radix with Vinegar: Evaluation by Orthogonal Testing

L Zhong 1, 2, J Zhao 2, IA Khan 2, 3, 4
  • 1School of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, China, 330004
  • 2National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 3Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 4Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Processing of Chinese Materia Medica (Pao zhi) is widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is commonly believed that, after processing with vinegar, the action of Bupleuri Radix (Bupleurum chinense DC. Chaihu) is directed to the liver channel in order to relieve liver pain [1]. Although the processed product has been used for thousands of years [2], the technical processing parameters remained vague. This ambiguity can affect the medicinal substance's quality and its better practice in TCM. To optimize and establish the vinegar-processing technical parameters, an orthogonal test was employed to determine the influence of the factors affiliated with three levels. These factors included the quantity of the vinegar, the processing temperature and time. The active ingredients and their concentrations detected by NMR, TLC and HPLC experiments were selected as the indexes to evaluate the effects of factors and levels. The optimum processing parameters were determined by variance analysis. The research is meaningful for the standardization of processing Bupleuri Radix with vinegar.

The orthogonal table of factors and levels

Level

A (%)

vinegar

B (°C)

processing temperature

C (min)

processing time

1

20

120

5

2

40

140

10

3

60

160

15

Acknowledgements: This research is supported in part by Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements and Botanical Dietary Supplement Research funded by the Food and Drug Administration (grant numbers 5U01FD002071–10 and 1U01FD003871–02).

References: [1] Jiang H, Li J, Shi RB (2009) Chinese Pharmacy J, 44: 1618–1621. [2] Li XD (2000) Chinese Traditional Patent Medicine, 22: 483–485.