Quality Status Analysis and Intrinsic Connection Research of Growing place, Morphological Characteristics, and Quality of Chinese Medicine: Cyperi Rhizoma (Xiangfu) as a Case Study

Junrong Lu; Wenbing Li; Na Xu; Peifen Yao; Shengpeng Wang; Chaomei Fu; Jin Pei; Hulan Chen; Shu Wang

doi:10.1155/2022/8309832

Quality Status Analysis and Intrinsic Connection Research of Growing place, Morphological Characteristics, and Quality of Chinese Medicine: Cyperi Rhizoma (Xiangfu) as a Case Study

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Mar 21:2022:8309832. doi: 10.1155/2022/8309832. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Junrong Lu^{1

2}, Wenbing Li³, Na Xu², Peifen Yao⁴, Shengpeng Wang⁴, Chaomei Fu², Jin Pei², Hulan Chen², Shu Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China.
² College of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 611137, Sichuan, China.
³ Sichuan Provincial Qiang-Yi Medicinal Resources Protection and Utilization Technology Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610225, Sichuan, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.

Abstract

Materials and methods: The macroscopic characteristics of CR as well as its moisture, ethanol extract, essential oil, total ash, and acid-insoluble ash contents were examined and calculated. In addition, qualitative identification and quantitative determination of α-cyperone, cyperotundone, and nootkatone were simultaneously performed, and a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint chromatogram was established. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and gas chromatography methods recorded in ChP were used to measure the contents of residues of heavy metal and deleterious elements as well as residues of organochlorine pesticide, respectively. Hierarchical cluster analysis and typical canonical correlation analysis were performed using Origin 9.1 and SPSS 23.0 to explore the correlation between CR's growth area, morphological characteristics, and quality.

Results: Of the 47 batches of CR analyzed, only 4 collected from the province of Shandong had a flat appearance, which did not accord with the macroscopic characteristics of CR. Overall, only 4 batches met ChP standards for CR. In addition, 30 and 38 batches did not meet the requirements for moisture content and essential oil content, respectively. The similarity values of HPLC fingerprints ranged from 0.568 to 0.986. Results of hierarchical cluster analysis for ethanol extracts, essential oil, α-cyperone, cyperotundone, and nootkatone and the HPLC fingerprints (total peak time and peak area) suggested that the samples could be classified into four clusters, with no significant difference in growth geographic areas among them. Results of canonical correlation analysis indicated that the first canonical pair could represent the correlation between macroscopic characteristics (vector 1) and chemical quality (vector 2), with shorter diameter and length denoting lower ethanol extract content and higher nootkatone content in a single grain of CR.

Conclusions: Crude medicinal materials were collected and examined in this study to reflect the overall quality status of CR in China. The methods chosen to detect, calculate, and analyze the quality of CR were suitable to the investigation, and the results are crucial not only for estimating the current quality status of CR, but also for conducting further research into its cultivation, quality assurance, and commodity specification. Besides, this mode of investigation could be used to evaluate other medicines.