Abstract
The processing of medicinal materials, known as Pao Zhi in traditional Chinese medicine, is a unique part of traditional Chinese medicine
and has been widely used for the preparation of Chinese materia medica. It is believed
that processing can alter the properties and functions of remedies, increase medical
potency, and reduce toxicity and side effects. Both processed and unprocessed Flos Lonicerae (flowers of Lonicera japonica) are important drug ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine. To gain insights
on the effect of processing factors (heating temperature and duration) on the change
of chemical composition, nuclear magnetic resonance combined with chemometric analysis
was applied to investigate the processing of F. Lonicerae. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectral data were analyzed by means of a heat map and
principal components analysis. The results indicated that the composition changed
significantly, particularly when processing at the higher temperature (210 °C). Five
chemical components, viz. 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid,
chlorogenic acid, and myo-inositol, whose concentration changed significantly during
the processing, were isolated and identified. The patterns for the concentration change
observed from nuclear magnetic resonance analysis during the processing were confirmed
and quantitatively determined by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography analysis.
The study demonstrated that a nuclear magnetic resonance-based chemometric approach
could be a promising tool for investigation of the processing of herbal medicines
in traditional Chinese medicine.
Key words
Lonicera japonica
- Caprifoliaceae - processing - TCM - NMR - PCA - chemometric
