Studies On The Effects Of Environmental Conditions And Other Related Factors On The Quality Of "Qi Ai"

Artemisia argyi leaf(AAL),a traditional Chinese medicine applied earlier in China,is the dried leaf of Artemisia argyi Lévl.et Vant.It is recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.AAL has the effects of eliminating cold,stopping pain,warming channel for arresting bleeding.Since the Ming Dynasty,“Qi Ai” has been recognized as the famous region drug of AAL.In 2010,the General Administration of Quality Supervision,Inspection and Quarantine officially approved the “Qi Ai” as a national geographical indication protection product,and fully promoted the development of the “Qi Ai” industry.Although the quality of “Qi Ai” is good,its quality also be affected by some environmental factors,cultivation techniques,drying methods,harvesting conditions,storage periods and the other conditions.Therefore,the contents of the volatile oil,total flavonoids,tannins and moxa yields of the effective constituents of Artemisia argyi leaf in Qichun(AALQ)in the different environments were determined.HPLC fingerprints of AALQ in different environments were established,and the contents of various active ingredients in AALQ were determined.The factors affecting the quality of AALQ were also analyzed.All of the above operations are to explore the relationship between certain environmental factors and other conditions and the quality of the leaves.The environmental conditions such as altitude,light conditions,soil water and fertilizer status of the “Qi Ai” sample growth site were recorded in the field,and soil moisture,pH value and organic matter content were determined by national industry standards.The results showed that the growth of “Qi Ai” is almost in low-altitude,well-lit,acidic or slightly acidic soils that had low requirements on soil fertility and soil moisture.Besides,the plant growth was better when the soil organic matter content was higher.The contents of the volatile oil,total flavonoids,tannins and moxa yields in “Qi Ai” of the different growth environments were determined.Combined with the previous environmental data,soil moisture and pH,sunshine length,altitude and fertilizer application have different effects on the quality of “Qi Ai”.“Qi Ai” samples with application of chemical fertilizers(including N,P,K)and “Qi Ai” samples cultivated in an environment where light and soil moisture are insufficient are compared respectively with the samples that are not applied with chemical fertilizers and the samples cultivated in a enough light and soil moisture environment.Although the former can significantly increase volatile oil content in the leaves of “Qi Ai”,they all significantly reduce the contents of total flavonoids and tannins,and often reduce moxa yields(except for insufficient soil moisture).The content of the tannins and total flavonoids in the leaves are increased with the increase of soil pH in the acidic range.The HPLC fingerprint of “Qi Ai” from the different environments was established and the 15 large stable major peak were identified as well.There are 8 identified active ingredients of neochlorogenic acid,chlorogenic acid,cryptochlorogenic acid,dicaffeoylquinic acid,3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid,4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid,jaceosidin,eupatilin.By analyzing the HPLC characteristics of “Qi Ai” samples in different environments,the results showed that the total peak area of “Qi Ai” samples in the environment where the sunshine and soil moisture were insufficient was significantly lower than that with sufficient sunshine and soil moisture and the total area of the five organic acids peaks is also lower than the latter,which is the same as the result of comparison between “Qi Ai” samples with the chemical fertilizers application and no fertilizers application.Therefore,it is further explained that the application of chemical fertilizers and insufficient sunlight,soil moisture will significantly reduce the quality of “Qi Ai”.The HPLC method for the determination of seven active ingredients in the AALQ was established.The content of 21 batches of AALQ from the different environments was determined.The results also showed that the application of chemical fertilizer,lower soil moisture and shorter sunshine hours were not conducive to the accumulation of seven active constituents and five organic acids.In addition,through the correlation analysis between the content of the seven active ingredients and environmental factors,the content of cryptochlorogenic acid,dicaffeoylquinic acid,3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid in AALQ and soil moisture content in a certain range was significantly positively correlated,and the content of Jaceosidin was significantly positively correlated with the soil organic matter content.The contents of volatile oil,total flavonoids,tannins and seven active ingredients in different drying methods and harvested batches were measured,and the HPLC spectra were analyzed.The results showed that the content of volatile oil,total flavonoids,tannins and organic acid in the samples dried in the shade was significantly higher than that of the dried in the sun samples.The total areas of the HPLC peaks in the two types of samples also had similar results.The contents of volatile oil,total flavonoids,tannins and 5 kinds of organic acids in the first batch of “Qi Ai” samples collected in early June were significantly higher than those in the second and third batches collected in September and December.The content of active substances in AALQ of different storage period was also determined.The result showed that the content of total flavonoids and tannins decreased significantly after storage for four years,indicating the medicinal quality of AALQ will be significantly reduced with the storage period increasing.Based on environmental investigation,determination of soil moisture,pH and organic matter,determination of active components in “Qi Ai” and HPLC fingerprint analysis of “Qi Ai”,the research discussed the environmental factors how affecting the quality of “Qi Ai” to provide relevant experimental basis for the selection of appropriate cultivation environment for AALQ.In addition,the effects of different drying methods,harvesting times and storage periods on the quality of AALQ were discussed,which provided reasonable technical requirements for the drying and processing of AALQ raw materials.As for the problem that medicinal quality of AALQ is significantly reduced,the reduction of volatile oil reduces the dryness of moxa,which increases the stability of combustion.So it is more suitable for moxibustion.