Market Research And Quality Evaluation Of Madder

Rubia Radix et Rhizoma(Qiancao),a traditional Chinese medicine,is derived from the dry roots and rhizomes of Rubia cordifolia L..It has the effects of cooling blood and dredging meridians,hemostasis and removing blood stasis,clinically used for the treatment of blood stasis,amenorrhea and bleeding.According to the Pharmacopoeia of the people's Republic of China(2020 Edition),the content of purpurin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma crude drugs should not be less than 0.10%,the content of mollugin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma crude drugs should not be less than 0.40%,the content of purpurin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces should not be less than 0.080%,and the content of mollugin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces should not be less than 0.20%.According to the analysis of the unqualified announcement of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces from December 2014 to July 2020,14%of 93 batches of unqualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces were unqualified in content determination.It can be seen that the unqualified degree in content of quality control components of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces is serious.In this paper,after the market investigation of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma,the quality evaluation of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma was carried out by High Performance Liquid Chromatography(HPLC).The correlation between the content of purpurin and mollugin and characteristics of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma was explored.The reasons for the unqualified content of purpurin and mollugin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma were analyzed,which laid a foundation for the rapid screening of qualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma.The main research contents and results are as follows:1.According to the market investigation and analysis,98 batches of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples originated in 10 producing areas,including Hebei,Henan,Hubei,Anhui,Shandong,Shanxi,Shaanxi,Guangxi,Sichuan and Yunnan,among which the samples from Henan,Shanxi and Hebei accounted for more than 50%.The results showed that 72 of 116 batches of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples were qualified in characteristics,44 batches of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples were unqualified in characteristics,and more than 30%of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples were unqualified in characteristics.Among 44 batches of characteristics-unqualified samples,21 batches were fake,accounting for 18.1%;17 batches were inferior products,accounting for 14.6%;Six batches were adulterants,accounting for 5.1%.2.HPLC method for the determination of purpurin and mollugin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma was established,which can meet the requirements of methodological investigation,and can be used for the determination of purpurin and mollugin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma.The results of quality evaluation of 116 batches of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples showed that the unqualified rate of the content of purpurin or mollugin in characteristics-qualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples with qualified characteristics was as high as 40.2%,and the unqualified rate of the content of purpurin or mollugin in characteristics-unqualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples with unqualified characteristics was as high as 86.3%.Among 116 batches of Rubia samples,67 batches of samples were unqualified in the content of purpurin or mollugin,and the unqualified rate of purpurin and mollugin was more than 50%.The unqualified rate of purpurin and mollugin in 116 batches of Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples was in the order of crude drugs>slices>decoction pieces.3.The correlation analysis between the content of purpurin and mollugin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma and the color,the medicinal parts and the thickness of the medicinal parts showed that the content of purpurin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma had a certain correlation with the color,and the content of purpurin and mollugin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma had a certain correlation with the medical parts and the thickness of the medicinal parts.There was a positive correlation between the content of purpurin and the color index values a*(a*indicated red and green phase)and b*(b*indicated yellow and blue phase)in 72 batches of qualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples.Among the 72 batches of qualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples,the content of purpurin in rhizomes was higher than that in roots.The results showed that the content of mollugin in roots of 70 batches of samples was higher than that in rhizomes of 72 batches of samples,and the content of purpurin in fine roots of 19 batches of samples was higher than that in coarse roots,18 batches of 19 batches of samples showed that the content of mollugin in coarse roots was higher than that in fine roots.The main conclusions are as follows:1.The unqualified degree of the content of purpurin or mollugin in characteristics-unqualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples was more serious than that in characteristics-qualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma samples.Therefore,fake Rubia Radix et Rhizoma,inferior Rubia Radix et Rhizoma and adulterants were the main reasons for the unqualified content of purpurin or mollugin in Rubia Radix et Rhizoma.2.When the Rubia Radix et Rhizoma powder was yellower and redder,the content of purpurin was higher.The best way to select content-qualified Rubia Radix et Rhizoma was to select Rubia Radix et Rhizoma consisting of rhizomes and roots.