Analytical Methods And Quality Evaluation Of Tibetan Materia Medica,Lignum Caraganae

Lignum Caraganae(LIC),also known as “Zuomoxing”,is the red heartwoods of the stems and roots of a variety of plants from genus Caragana(Leguminosae)produced in Qinghai-Tibet plateau.It is an important Tibetan materia medica for breaking blood and removing blood stasis.Caragana jubata Poir(CJ)and C.changduensis Liou f.(CC)are the two main original plants of LIC.The red heartwoods of the rhizomes of CJ and CC are considered to have ‘promoting blood circulation,removing blood stasis,and lowering blood pressure’ functions and have been applied commonly to the treatment of polycythemia,hypertension and menstrual disorders.Phytochemical research has shown that flavonoids,such as isoflavones and pterocarpans,are the main chemical constituents of LIC.At present,there are few research reports on the quality evaluation of LIC,mainly focusing on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of formononetin and total flavonoids in LIC.In this dissertation,the HPLC-MS/MS and HPLC-UV analysis methods were established for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of main chemical components of LIC to reveal the characteristics of the main chemical components of LIC from different plant sources.Furthermore,HPLC fingerprint and chemometrics analysis were employed to visualize the distinction and relationship of LIC obtained from CJ and CC.As a results,the 14 compounds included 6,7,3’-trihydroxy-4’-methoxyisoflavone(1),liquiritigenin(2),calycosin(3),6,7,2’-trihydroxy-4’-methoxyisoflavanone(4),7,3’-dihydroxy-6,4’-dimethoxyisoflavone(5),6,7,2’-trihydroxy-4’-methoxyisoflavone(6),(8S)-2,4-dihydroxy-8-hydroxymethyl-4’-methoxydeoxybenzoin(7),7,2’-dihydroxy-4’-methoxyisoflavanone(8),6,7-dihydroxy-4’-methoxyisoflavone(9),formononetin(10),cajanin(11),maackiain(12),4-hydroxy-3,9-dimethoxypterocarpan(13)and medicarpin(14)were identified and quantified.Especially,6,7,2’-trihydroxy-4’-methoxyisoflavanone(4)is new compound and compound 8 was isolated from Caragana for the first time.The analysis of HPLC fingerprint and chemometrics could discriminate the LIC from different plant sources and LIC from its adulterations.The established method could be applied to the identification of the authenticity,quality evaluation and traceability of the original plants of LIC.The research results provide a foundation for further research and development of LIC.