Study On The Key Technology Of Comprehensive Utilization Of Coptis By-products

Rhizoma Coptidis has beening one of the most frequently used herbs in traditional Chinese medicine since 2,000 years ago. It’s active components are alkaloids such as berberine, coptisine, palmatine and jatrorrhizine, et al. The rhizome with antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antidote, antipyretic, carminative, cholagogue, anti-hypoglycemic, anti-hyperlipidemia, anti-hyperglycemia, anti-cancer, vasodilator activity were extensively studied. There were countless prescriptions including treatment of diarrhea and dysentery that were composed of coptis root not only in the ancient times, but also in modern times. But only the rhizome of coptis was used in the prescription. The other parts of coptis, such as leaf, flower and fibre, were hardly used in the prescription. The by-products of coptis are either solded in a low price, or throwed over in the field. It’s a waste of resource. The study on application of the by-product is few. The content of total alkaloid and berberine in the by-product is so high that it is deserved to be exploited. If we can utilize this resource, great benefit will be brought out.The by-products of coptis, such as coptis fibre, leaf and inflorescence, which were produced during planting and processing Rhizoma Coptidis. The main components and in vitro antioxidantial of these by-products were reasearched in this paper. In the following research, the functions such as anti-hypoglycemic, anti-hyperlipidemia and antipyretic have been researched. In order to exploit health-care drink, security of the coptis inflorescence has been evaluated. The detailed content and results of the research are as follows:（1） The coptis inflorescence, leaf and fibre are abundant in amino acids and mineral elements. The content of amino acids and mineral elements in the inflorescence is higher than that in the leaf and fibre. The content of animo acids in the inflorescence is 17.53% of dried inflorescence. The content of animo acids in the leaf is 12.18%, while only 5.63% in the fibre. The content of animo acids in inflorescence is closer to the standard of ideal protein than that of fibre and leaf. coptis inflorescence is also abundant in the microelement that is necessary to human, such as Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, etc.The compounds of coptis inflorescence were tested qualitatively by the methods from Chinese herb chemistry. Results showed that the inflorescence cotained many bioactivity compounds such as flavonoids, polyphenols, amino acids, polypeptide, organic acids, saponins, anthraquinones and alkaloids.The content of three kinds of alkaloid, jatrorrhizine, palmatine and berberine, in the inflorescence, leaf and fibre was determined by the method of HPLC. The content of jatrorrhizine in fibre is 0.80%.The content of berberine in the leafstalk is 1.53% and the content of palmatine in the inflorescence is 0.44%.（2） The rhizome, fibre, leaf and inflorescence of coptis showed the activity of eliminating·OH, O₂^-·and H₂O₂. But the activity of the by-product was lower than that of coptis rhizome. The activity related to the content of berberine.（3） The extraction of coptis inflorescence had a significant effect on the blood glucose level of diabetes rat by intraperitoneal injection of alloxan. After been intragastric administration for 28d, the blood glucose of high dosage and medium dosage group was significantly decreased. That of low dosage group also had the trend of decreasing. The extraction of coptis inflorescence improved the body weight, drinking and food utilization ratio of diabetes rat induced by alloxan. At the same time of anti-hypoglycemic effect, the extraction of coptis inflorescence mantained the blood lipimedia disorder of diabetes rat induced by alloxan. Moreover, the extraction of coptis inflorescence had ability regulate the level of SOD, MDA and GSH-Ps in the blood. The extraction of coptis inflorescence showed function of in vivo antioxidation.（4） The hyperlipidemia animal model is established by giving high-fat feed. Animals achieved hyperlipidemia during fat feeding were divided into three dosage groups and hyperlipidemia group. The extraction of coptis inflorescence has a significant effect on lowering serum TC, TG and LDL-C of experimental hyperlipidemia rat, increasing HDL-C. It can decrease the arteriosclerosis index effectively, and inhibit the deposition of fat in the enterocelia and liver. Histological inspection indicates that the viscera index of three dosage groups has no significant difference with the normal group.（5） The fever model animal was established by hypodermic inject yeast. Different concentration of coptis inflorescence extraction was gave to the animals. It indicated that coptis inflorescence had a function of releasing heat. The effect of heat-releasing had a dosage-effect relation with the dosage of coptis inflorescence extraction.（6） To evaluate the security of coptis inflorescence by acute toxicity test, Ames test, sperm abnormality test, bone marrow cell micronucleus test, ninety days feeding study and part of the reproductive experiment were conducted according to the procedure of GB15193.1-2003. The LD50 of coptis inflorescence is bigger than 21.5g/Kg·BW. According to the classification of chemical, it has no actue toxicity. In Ames test, sperm abnormality test, bone marrow cell micronucleus test and ninety days feeding study, there’s no significant difference on measured index between the dosage groups and the normal control.（7） Two kinds of functional product were maded by using coptis inflorescence as main components. The key technologies to produce this tea were:①inactivation at 200℃for 5min;②then cooled and dried on time;③packed. The coptis inflorescence tea was packed after been inactived, cooled and dried. The other product is coptis inflorescence bag-soaked tea. The ratio of three material is: coptis inflorescence: sweet tea: chrysanthemum=90:2:20. The finished bag-soaked tea is oranged-yellow in colour, a little sweet and bitter in taste, light chrysanthemum scent in flavor.