Studies On The Identification, Quality Analysis Of Moxa And The Grading Standard Of Qi Ai Moxa

Moxa is a soft fluffy substance processed form dried leaf of Artemisia argyi Lévl.et Vent.,which is often made into moxibustion products such as moxa stick for moxibustion therapy.It has the functions of warming channels,harmonizing Qi and blood,harmonizing Yin and Yang,strengthening the healthy and removing evil.Due to the lack of identification and quality control methods of moxa,the quality of moxa and its products in the market is uneven.It was found that the stem of Artemisia argyi is mixed into the leaf to make inferior moxa,and the leaf of Artemisia indica Willd,a plant of the same genus,is also mixed to make moxibustion products.This has seriously affected the quality of moxibustion products and the stability of moxibustion therapy.The Qi Ai moxa is processed from Artemisia argyi leaf(AAL)produced in Qichun County,Hubei Province.It is a high quality raw material for moxibustion therapy.Qi Ai moxa stick and other Qi Ai moxa products enjoy high prestige both at home and abroad.But at present,there are often cases that the common moxa made of AAL from other producing areas is mixed with Qi Ai moxa,and then made into Qi Ai moxa products for sale and use.This has seriously damaged the interests of Qi Ai growers,Qi Ai moxa producers,as well as consumers.Therefore,on the basis of literature review,we have conducted extensive market research on the products of moxa,and collected a large number of moxa products and adulterants of Artemisia indica leaf in many provinces of China.Taking the self-made moxa as a reference,the identification characteristics of different purity or quality,specifications and grades of commercial moxa were studied by macroscopical,microscopical and TLC methods,and the identification method of moxa was established by comparing with the crushed stems and Artemisia indica moxa(AIM).The content of volatile oil and total flavonoids in different quality,purity and specifications of commercial moxa were determined,and its moisture and total ash were determined.The combustion heat value of moxa samples were measured by automatic calorimeter.The HPLC and IR characteristic chromatograms of different grades and specifications of moxa werestudied and compared with those of AIM.GC-MS technology was used to study the components of the moxa volatile oil and compared with those of AIM volatile oil.The effects of different cultivation management conditions and drying methods on the quality of AAL and their processed products moxa were also studied.Although different specifications and grades of moxa are similar,they can be distinguished by shape and microscopic characteristics.The microscopic characteristics of "moxa" mixed with AIM are more different from the pure moxa.The main differences are the shape of stoma,the length and shape of the top cells of the T-shaped hairs,and the diameter of calcium oxalate clusters.The TLC results showed that genuine moxa had the characteristic chromatogram spot of caryophyllene oxide,while the AIM did not show this spot,and there were only two chromatogram spots in common with the genuine moxa.Through the determination of the content of the volatile oil and total flavonoids and the content of moisture and ash in the moxa,it was found that the higher the marked leaf-hairy ratio,the lower the content of the volatile oil and total flavonoids,and the lower the moisture and ash content of the moxa produced by different producing areas and different factories in the range of purity(leaf-hairy ratio)of their respective series.According to the consensus of the industry workers,based on the differences of the shape,microscopical characteristics and the contents of related chemical substances among different purity moxa,the mechanical moxa is divided into the three quality grades:first,second and third.It was found that the combustion heat value of the moxa decreased with the increase of its purity(grades).The average combustion heat value of the mechanical moxa,manual moxa and Huangjin moxa samples from Qichun,Hubei were slightly higher than the moxa samples from the other places in China.The combustion heat value of the different specifications of moxa was also different,the combustion heat value of the manual moxa was obviously higher than that of the mechanical moxa and Huangjin moxa.As a unique traditional handicraft,the manual moxa has its advantages in moxibustion heat release.The HPLC characteristic chromatograms and the IR characteristic spectra ofmoxa and the different grades of products were also established in this study.There were 32 common peaks in the HPLC chromatograms of moxa simples,10 of which were the main peaks.In the HPLC chromatograms of the different grades and specifications moxa simples,the relative peak areas of the most peaks were different.Using HPLC characteristic chromatograms,AIM could be effectively identified.In the IR fingerprint spectrum of moxa,18 common absorption peaks were identified,and the number,position and intensity of the absorption peaks were different among AIM and moxa of the different grades and specifications.These differences can be used for auxiliary identification and quality evaluation of moxa.More than 200 chemical components were obtained in the volatile oil of moxa by GC-MS.There were 36 common components in the volatile oil of the moxa from different producing areas and different specifications(purity).There was a little difference between the volatile oil of AIM and genuine moxa.These results provided basic information for the identification,quality control and application of moxa.It was also found that the factors of fertilizer application,harvesting times,drying methods and storage years could affect the quality of AAL and moxa,which provided a scientific basis for the reasonable planting of Artemisia argyi and the reasonable utilization of AAL or moxa.In this thesis,the quality classification of mechanical moxa was studied by using the differences of shape microscopical characteristics and the contents of related chemical substances among the different purity moxa simples.And the different specifications and grades of high quality Qi Ai moxa were mainly studied,the local standard of Hubei Province《quality standard of classification of Qi Ai moxa 》was formulated,which would be of great significance for standardizing the market of Qi Ai moxa.