Quality Evaluation of Yi Medicine "Qibujing" Based on Determination of Water Content and Ash Content

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1. School of Pharmacy, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610041, China; 2. Xichang Institute of Yi Nationality Medicine, Xichang 615000, China; 3. Institute of National Medicine, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610041, China

Abstract [Objectives] To determine the water content, total ash content and acid-insoluble ash content of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing", so as to provide experimental basis for establishing the Quality Standard (Draft) of Yi Medicinal Material "Qibujing" in Sichuan Province. [Methods] According to the second method (drying method) in 0832 water content determination method and 2301 ash content determination method in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2015 Edition), it was determined, respectively, and the data were processed by IBM SPSS Statistics 26 and DPS 7.05 data processing system. [Results] All the 14 batches of sample met the stipulation that the water content should not exceed 12.0%, the total ash content should not exceed 8.0%, and the acid-insoluble ash content should not exceed 1.5% under "Guan Zhong-(Qibujing)" in the 2005 edition of Yunnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Standard. There was a negative correlation between water content, acid-insoluble ash content and altitude, and a positive correlation between total ash content and altitude. [Conclusions] It is suggested that Quality Standard (Draft) of Yi Medicinal Material "Qibujing" in Sichuan Province stipulate that the water content should not exceed 12.0%, the total ash content should not exceed 8.0%, and the acid-insoluble ash content should not exceed 1.5%.

Key words Yi medicine "Qibujing", Potentilla fulgens, Water content, Ash content, Content determination

1 Introduction

Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" is the dry root ofPotentillafulgensWall. ex Hook. in the Rosaceae family, also known as Guan Zhong (Yunnan), Dibinglang, Diguanzi, Mashigen, Fanbaiye,etc.[1-2]. It has the effect of clearing heat and detoxification, relieving diarrhea with astringents, cooling blood and stopping bleeding. It mainly used for treatment of abdominal pain, diarrhea, dysentery, hemoptysis, hemorrhoid bleeding, dysmenorrhea, burns and other diseases[2].

"Qibujing" is a commonly used folk medicine of the Yi nationality, mainly produced in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places. It grows in hillside grasslands, thickets, forest margins and forests at the altitude of 1100 to 3600 meters. Triterpenoids[3](potentene A, potentene B), flavonoids[4](flavonoids: rutin, kaempferol, isovitexin, luteolin, baicalin, hyperin, apigenin-7-O-β-D-glucuronide, viridin, pluccinoside A,etc.) and biflavones[5]etcare mainly constituents of Qibujing. It has pharmacological activities such as antioxidation, anti-tumor, bacteriostasis, blood sugar reduction and so on. This experiment provides a theoretical basis for theQualityStandard(Draft)ofYiMedicinalMaterial"Qibujing"inSichuanProvinceby determining the water content and ash content of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" in Sichuan Province.

2 Materials and methods

2.1InstrumentsandreagentsDHG-9240A electrical thermostatic air dry oven (Shanghai Jinghong Experimental Equipment Co., Ltd.), METTLER AE240 electronic analytical balance (Shanghai Mettler-Toledo Instrument Co., Ltd.), HH-2 digital thermostatic water bath pot (Guohua Electric Appliance Co., Ltd.), SX2 electric resistance furnace (Changsha Yuandong Electric Furnace Factory), dryer, crucible, measuring cylinder, pipette. Dilute hydrochloric acid and other reagents are analytically pure.

2.2SourcesofmedicinalmaterialsThe Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" was collected from October 2017 to July 2019 in various places in Luojishan Town, Puge County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The source information of each sample is shown in Table 1. The sample was identified asPotentillafulgensWall. ex Hook. in the Rosaceae family by Professor Yuan Liu from Institute of National Medicine of Southwest Minzu University, Associate Prof essor Ying Li of the School of Pharmacy of Southwest Minzu University, and Yingfen Hao, heir to the intangible cultural heritage of Sichuan Province.

2.3WatercontentdeterminationAccording to the second method (drying method) in 0832 water content determination method inChinesePharmacopoeia(2015 Edition), the water content of each batches of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" was determined[10].

About 2.0 g of powder of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" (sifted by 50-mesh sieve) was accurately weighed and placed in a weighing bottle that had been dried to constant weight. The lid of the weighing bottle containing medicinal materials was opened and dried in drying oven at 105 ℃ for 5 hours, then removed and quickly moved into the dryer. After cooling for 30 min, weighed it precisely. Then at the above temperature, it dried 2 hours again,

Table1ThesourceofYimedicinalmaterial"Qibujing" (Potentillafulgens)

No.LocalityElevation∥mDate of collectionS1Luoamuwa2 118.02017-10-01S2Luoamuwa 2 123.02017-10-01S3Sishiluomo2 139.02017-10-01S4Sishiluomo2 138.02017-10-01S5Longdong River Power Station2 148.72017-10-03S6Longdong River Power Station2 141.22017-10-03S7Longdong River Power Station2 132.12017-10-03S8Luobo Village2 108.12018-08-06S9Luobo Village2 145.42018-08-06S10Luobo Village2 138.32018-08-06S11Deyu Village Group 32 238.02019-07-07S12Deyu Village Group 22 256.12019-07-07S13Deyu Village Group 22 232.02019-07-07S14Deyu Village Group 42 215.32019-07-07

Note: All the medicinal materials are collected from Luojishan Town, Puge County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

cooled and weighed for two consecutive times until the weight difference was less than 5.0 mg. According to the weight lost, the water content (%) in the sample was calculated, and the results are shown in Table 2.

No.Water content Total ash contentAcid-insolubleash contentS110.18±0.135.72±0.020.58±0.07S210.40±0.125.59±0.120.51±0.06S310.72±0.325.78±0.070.51±0.11S49.66±0.145.47±0.140.56±0.06S59.88±0.705.65±0.210.55±0.02S69.84±0.435.04±0.100.56±0.05S711.00±0.295.18±0.040.53±0.03S810.49±0.115.15±0.030.52±0.05S99.98±0.125.36±0.040.55±0.00S1010.74±0.175.29±0.050.52±0.09S1110.24±0.215.31±0.030.48±0.03S128.97±0.525.66±0.050.52±0.05S1310.12±0.315.62±0.050.49±0.07S1410.76±0.055.76±0.110.44±0.02

2.4AshcontentdeterminationThe ash content was determined according to the 2301 ash content determination method inChinesePharmacopoeia(2015 Edition)[10].

2.4.1Total ash content. About 3.0 g of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" (sifted by 50-mesh sieve) was placed in a crucible that had been burned to a constant weight, weighed precisely, and heated slowly. After complete carbonization, the temperature of muffle furnace gradually increased to 500-600 ℃, which made it completely turn into ash to constant weight. According to the weight of the residue, the total ash content (%) in the sample was calculated. The results are shown in Table 2.

2.4.2Acid-insoluble ash content. The ash obtained under2.4.1was taken, about 10 mL of 10% dilute hydrochloric acid was added which was covered with a surface dish, and heated in a water bath for 10 min. Then the surface dish was rinsed with 5 mL of hot water for many times in a small amount, and the washing liquid was incorporated into the crucible, filtered with ashless filter paper, and the residue was washed on the filter paper with water until the filtrate and chloride did not produce white precipitation. The filter residue and the filter paper were moved to the same crucible and placed in the muffle furnace to be completely turned into ash to a constant weight at the above temperature. According to the weight of the residue, the acid-insoluble ash content (%) in the sample was calculated. The results are shown in Table 2.

3 Results and analysis

The determination results of water content, total ash content and acid-insoluble ash content in 14 batches of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" are shown in Table 2.

According to Table 2, the highest water content of 14 batches of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" was 11.00%, the lowest was 8.97%, and the average water content was 10.21%. 14 batches of sample met the requirement that the water content should not exceed 13.0% under Yi Medicine (II)[2]—"Guan Zhong-(Qibujing)" in the 2005 edition ofYunnanTraditionalChineseMedicineStandard.

The highest total ash content of 14 batches of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" was 5.78%, the lowest was 5.04%, and the average total ash content was 5.47%. 14 batches of samples met the requirement that the ash content should not exceed 8.0% under Yi Medicine (II)[2]—"Guan Zhong-(Qibujing)" in the 2005 edition ofYunnanTraditionalChineseMedicineStandard.

The highest acid-insoluble ash content of 14 batches of Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" was 0.58%, the lowest was 0.44%, and the average acid-insoluble ash content was 0.52%. 14 batches of samples met the requirement that the acid-insoluble ash content should not exceed 1.5% under Yi Medicine (II)[2]—"Guan Zhong-(Qibujing)" in the 2005 edition ofYunnanTraditionalChineseMedicineStandard.

3.1CorrelationanalysisIBM SPSS Statistics 26 software was used to analyze the correlation between altitude and water content, total ash content and acid-insoluble ash content in "Qibujing". The results are shown in Table 3. Table 3 showed that the water content and acid-insoluble ash content inPotentillafulgenswere negatively correlated with altitude, while the total ash content in medicinal materials was positively correlated with altitude.

3.2TOPSISanalysisThe coefficient of variation method was used to calculate the weight of water content, total ash content and acid-insoluble ash content in "Qibujing". The results are shown in Table 4. According to the weighting results of each component, TOPSIS analysis was carried out with standardized data using DPS software (water content, total ash content and acid-insoluble ash content were low excellent indexes). The results are shown in

Table 5. The results showed that with water content, total ash content and acid-insoluble ash content as evaluation indexes, the sample quality of S14 "Qibujing" was the best.

Table3Correlationbetweenaltitudeandwatercontent,totalashcontent,oracid-insolubleashcontentinPotentillafulgens

ElevationWatercontentTotal ashcontentAcid-insolubleash contentElevation1.000Water content-0.3791.000Total ash content0.298-0.1221.000Acid-insoluble ash content-0.605-0.378-0.242∗∗1.000

Table4Determinationoftheweightingresultsbycoefficientofvariation

ComponentCoefficient of variationWeightWater content0.052 50.312 1Total ash content0.045 10.268 1Acid-insoluble ash content0.070 50.419 8

Table5ResultsofTOPSISevaluationofdifferentbatchesofPotentillafulgens

SampleCIPositionSampleCIPositionS10.151 214S80.374 46S20.383 15S90.277 612S30.350 37S100.339 38S40.285 811S110.575 72S50.263 913S120.487 74S60.330 59S130.508 93S70.320 310S140.633 81

4 Conclusion and discussion

In this experiment, the water content, total ash content and acid-insoluble ash content in Yi medicinal material "Qibujing" collected at different times and places were determined by using the methods inChinesePharmacopoeia(2015 Edition, Volume IV). At the same time, according to the requirements of water content, total ash content and acid-insoluble ash content under Yi medicine (II) inChinesePharmacopoeia(2015 Edition, Volume IV), it is suggested that Quality Standard (Draft) of Yi Medicinal Material "Qibujing" in Sichuan Province stipulate that the water content of Yi medicine should not exceed 12.0%, the total ash content should not exceed 8.0%, and the acid-insoluble ash content should not exceed 1.5%.