Studies On Identification And Fingerprint Characteristics Of Crude And Processed "Niupixiao" And "Pokou"

Niupixiao is the root of Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight, from family Asclepiadaceae. It was a local customarily used folk medicine of many provinces such as Hubei, Hunan and Jiangsu, an famous ethnomedicine named"Geshanxiao"used by Tujia Nationality, and also one of the sources of Chinese traditional drug"Baishouwu". It can benefit liver and kidney, strengthen bones and tendons, enrich blood and qi, tonify stomach and eliminate stagnation, clear heat-toxicity and remove dampness. As a commonly used medicine in Dai areas, Pokou, also called Daheifuzi, is the rhizome of Homalomena gigantea Engl., from family Araceae. It can be applied to arrest cough, abate a fever, remove wind-dampness, promote bones and tendons, stop bleeding and so on. Since the both have certain toxicity, they need to be processed for detoxication.There are two parts in this thesis. The first part is a series of researches on macroscopic observation, microscopic survey, TLC, the content determination and HPLC fingerprint characteristics of the crude and processed niupixiao. The second includes the almost same study items about pokou, and FTIR technique was also used to authenticate this raw medicine and its processed product.NiupixiaoMacroscopic and microscopic studies showed that the root of niupixiao included swollen and non-swollen parts, whose morphologic and anatomic characters had obvious differences. The xylem of non-swollen part was abundant; parenchyma scattered with numerous clusters of calcium oxalate. The xylem of swollen part was undeveloped, and arranged in interrupted rings; clusters of calcium oxalate were rare in parenchyma. The TLC result showed that, compared with crude niupixiao, two spots disappeared after stir-bake with rice, while one spot disappeared after stir-bake with soil, and size and color of other spots also have certain differences. Through routine examination, ethanol extracts, heavy metal and arsenic detection, the moisture in crude niupixiao should be less than 12.0%, with total ashes within 4.5%, the ethanol-soluble extract less than 8.0%, the content limit of heavy metal within 10 ppm, the content of arsenic salt within 1 ppm. Determination and HPLC fingerprint characteristics of crude and processed"Niupixiao"indicated that there were 17 common peaks in the fingerprint, average similarity of 9 in 10 samples was over 0.9,the similarity of one moldy samples was less than 0.9, indicating that the HPLC fingerprints established could control the quality of the crude drug. After Stir-bake with rice, component A(p-cresol) decreased, component B(steroidal saponin) increased, illustrating that the processing could reduce toxicity.PokouAccording to the macroscopic and microscopic observations, the microscopic characters of transverse section of pokou were as follows: parenchyma was broad, scattered with clusters of calcium oxalate, raphides of calcium oxalate and oil cells. Vascular bundles were numerous and scattered, arranged in a concentric ring in the outer part, usually in amphivasal-type while few in collateral-type. Xylem possessed only one row of vessels which arranged in ring. Compared the differences of TLC results between crude pokou and its processed product, four spots disappeared after processing. At the same time, other spots had corresponding colors and positions, but some of them possessed smaller sizes and lighter colors, suggesting that some compositions have reduced after processed with water. Through routine examination, ethanol extracts assay, heavy metal determination, and arsenic salt detection, the moistures in its processed product should be less than 15.0%, total ashes should be within 8%, the ethanol-soluble extract less than 1.0%, the water-soluble extract less than 6.0%, the content limit of heavy metal within 5 ppm, and arsenic salt within 2 ppm. The IR spectra of the raw medicine and its processed product obtained by a FTIR spectrometer showed that there were 7 common peaks(cm-1): 3414±4,2927±1,1619±2,1323±2,1241±3,616±5,520±3. But the two samples can be differentiated from each other by the wave number, position and the height of the absorption peaks. These differences could be used for identification of crude and its processed product. In addition, the IR spectra of different extracts of pokou and its processed product demonstrated that, petroleum ether extracts of them looked very much alike, but the ethyl acetate extracts had obviously different. The results indicated that puny polar components had little effects, and the main toxicity constituents might be polar components.The research results above provided useful techniques for identification, quality evaluation of the two drugs and their processed products, offered basis for further study and application of them at the same time. The significance of processing was also discussed in this thesis.