Primary Studies On The Resources And Quality Of Danshen Root Produced In Shandong Province

Objective: To investigate the resources of Danshen root produced in Shandong Province, study the quality of Danshen root from different origins, habitats and harvest time.Methods: The former plants of Danshen root were surveyed and described by using the methods of resource taxonomy and morphological taxonomy.The water contents and ash contents were checked according to the standards of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The contents of tanshinone IIA and Salvianolic acid B and the fingerprint of Danshen root were studied using HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography ).Results: The resources of Danshen root in Shandong province include Salvia milliorrhiza Bge., Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. f. alba C. Y. Wu et H. W. Li, Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.var. charbonnelii (Levl.) C. Y. Wu and Salvia shandongensis J. X. Li et F. Q. Zhou sp. nov.. The macroscopical characters, water and ash contents of Danshen root accorded with the standards prescribed in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, except acid infusible ash contents of one third samples. The contents of tanshinone IIA and Salvianolic acid B differed with resources, tanshinone IIA ranged from 0.33% to 0.72%, Salvianolic acid B ranged from 5.3% to 11.2%.The Danshen root produced in Mengyin was better than others, and the quality of Baihuadanshen from Laiwu was better than Danshen. The HPLC fingerprints of Danshen root produced in Shandong were defined tentatively.Conclusions: The quality of Danshen root produced in Shandong accorded with the national standards and the fingerprint can be used for the quality controlling of Danshen root. This paper provided scientific data for studying the germplasm resources and establishing the quality standards of Danshen root.