Wang Z

Quality specification of Curcumae Radix

OBJECTIVEnTo establish and revise the quality specification of Curcumae Radix.nnnMETHODnTLC identification was carried out by the method in Appendix VI B in Chinese pharmacopoeia (2005th Edition) and the contents of volatile oil was determined by the method describing in Appendix XD.nnnRESULTnTwenty-four Samples from four different curcuma species were performed TLC qualitative analysis and volatile determination, respectively.nnnCONCLUSIONnThe established method can be used for the quality control of Curcumae Radix.

Trace analysis of aristolochic acid A

A HPLC method for limit detection of aristolochic acid A in the Chinese herbs containing aristolochic acid or suspected-containing aristolochic acid and their preparations was established. The samples were analyzed on an Alltima C18 column eluted with methanol-water-acetic acid (68:32:1.5) as the mobile phase. Flow rate was at 1.0 mL x min(-1) and the detection wavelength was at 390 nm. The calibration curve was linear over the range from 0.016 to 0.51 g (r = 0.9993) and LOD was 4 ng. The average recovery was 101.2% with RSD of 2.01%. The procedures of sample preparation were systematically investigated. The contents of aristolochic acid A in Radix et Rhizoma Asari bought from market or drugstore were fluctuated from 3.1 to 26.6 microg x g(-1) and 3 of 11 samples accorded with the quality requirement of current Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Among 15 batches samples of Chinese medicaments, only one sample was found to contain aristolochic acid A. The present investigation shows that the method is sensitive and repeatable and it could be used for the limit detection of aristolochic acid A in the Chinese herbal medicines containing trace amount of aristolochic acid A or suspected-containing aristolochic acid A and their preparations.