Study On The Assessment Method Of Radix Salvia Mitiorrhiza And Quality Investigation Of Samples From Different Origins

As the dried root of Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bge., Radix Salvia Miltiorrhiza (RSM) is a commonly-used Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for removing blood stasis, relieving pain, promoting blood circulation, tranquilizing mind and relieving vexation. Modern researches show that the main principles of RSM include aqueous components such as danshensu, salvianolic acid B, and lipophilic components such as tanshinone IIA and cryptotanshinone.One hundred and thirty-eight samples of RSM were collected from different habitats (Shanxi, Henan, Sichuang, Chongqing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei and Anhui province/city) and their quality was appreciated.The contents of salvianolic acid B in all the RSM samples were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). And the conclusion was reached that the contents of salvianolic acid B of samples from Shanxi and Henan provinces were significantly higher than those of the other habitats, and there was no difference between the contents of artificially-cultivated and the wild samples.Two HPLC methods were developed for the fingerprint drawing of aqueous and lipophilic components, respectively. Ninety-six samples were determined with these two methods.The similarity degrees were calculated for the fingerprints of the aqueous and lipophilic components using a similarity degree calculation software. The results show that the fingerprints of aqueous components of RSM have little difference, while those of the lipophilic components of RSM from Anhui and Zhejiang provinces were much different from others. This is the first time to report that RSM samples from different habitats have like aqueous components and different lipophilic components.The chemical data obtained from the fingerprints were studied with several chemical pattern-recognition methods. Cluster analysis and back-propaganda artificial neutral networks (BP-ANN) were used to analyze the aqueous components fingerprints. The result of cluster analysis was reasonable and the correct rate of habitat identification by BP-ANN was 87.5%.Cluster analysis was used to analyze the lipophilic components fingerprints. And stepwise discrimination analysis was used to make a discriminate function to identify the habitats of RSM. The correct rate of habitat identification was 93.8%. This method can be used to identify habitats of RSM.