The Study On Chemical Fingerprint And Metabolic Profile Of Citrus Reticulate ’Chachi’

Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae （PCR, Chenpi in Chinese）, the dried ripe pericarp ofCitrus reticulata Blanco or its cultivars, is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine forits low toxicity and various pharmacological activities and officially listed in the ChinesePharmacopoeia. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） theory indicates that it has theefficacy of strengthen spleen and liver, disperse stagnation, eliminate dampness and resolvephlegm. Among of the main Chenpi cultivars, the dried ripe pericarp of Citris reticulate‘Chachi’ which produced in Xinhui of Guangdong Province in China （CRC, Guangchenpiin Chinese）, is viewed as a genuine medicinal material. Pharmacological research hasdemonstrated that CRC exhibits significant anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterialand anticancer functions. Moreover, it has been used as a herb medicine to treat anorexiaand a cough with copious phlegm, etc.CRC mainly contain several non-volatile compounds such as flavonoids, amino acid,organic acids and alkaloids. Among these, flavonoids, which are considered to beresponsible for the pharmacological activities of CRC, have received more and moreattention due to its extensive pharmacologic actions.In our research, a method using HPLC-PDA-IT/MSntechnique was developed for theinvestigation of chemical fingerprint of Citrus reticulate ‘Chachi’ decoction （CRCD） andmetabolic profile of SD rat plasma sample after oral administration of CRCD （1.5gherb/Kg）. A total of28chemical constituents of CRCD were identified from their MW,UV spectra, MSndata and retention behavior by comparing the results with those of thereference standards or literature. And the fragmentation pathways of three main flavonoidssuch as vicenin-2, hesperidin and nobiletin were also been researched. In the investigation of metabolic profile,43compounds were detected in dosed SD rat plasma samples,including9prototypes which were identified as hesperidin, isosinensetin, sinensetin,tetramethyl-O-isoscutellarein, nobiletin, tetramethyl-O-scutellarein,3,5,6,7,8,3′,4′-heptamethoxyflavone, tangeretin,5-demethylnobiletin and34metabolitesunderwent metabolic process of demethylation, glucuronide conjugation, sulfateconjugation or mixed modes. Then9flavonoids were isolated by semi-preparative HPLCand high-speed counter-current chromatography （HSCCC） techniques. At last, theHPLC-UV method was established to determinate the contents of11compounds in8samples of CRC simultaneously.The chemical fingerprint in vitro and metabolic profile in vivo of Citrus reticulate‘Chachi’ decoction were established in our study. Meanwhile, some chemical compoundsespecially flavonoids were isolated and identified by modern analysis techniques. Asystemic method of isolation, purification, identification and screening ofpharmacodynamic substance for chemical constituents in the TCM （traditional Chinesemedicine） was established, which could supply a new thinking and scientific basis for theoverall quality control of TCM.