Study On Qualiy Characeristics And Commodity Specification Grade Of Santalum Album L.

Traditional Chinese medicine includes Chinese herbal medicine,Chinese herbal pieces and Chinese patent medicine,and Chinese herbal medicine is in the core position.The commercial specifications and grades are important basis to evaluate and control the quality of Chinese herbal medicine.Currently,there is few scientific rationalities in the classification of specifications and grades of existing medicinal materials on the market because of the loss of traditional experience as well as the lack of comprehensive technical support,making it difficult to reflect the real Chinese herbal medicine market and propose proper classification of specifications and grades.In this study,a new standard for the commercial classification of Santalum album L.was drew up based on literature review,examination of existing classification standard and field research.With properties,chemicals,and biological activities all taken into consideration,this new standard provides new insights and basis to healthier Santalum album L.market.First,literature was reviewed to summary the chemicals and pharmacological activities of Santalum album L.Samples and trading information were collected from four major Chinese herbal medicine bazaars located in Anguo,Bozhou,Yulin and Chengdu.After the research on the properties,microscopic characteristics,thin layer chromatography,volatile oil and chemical composition of the samples,a new classification standard was proposed based on existing one.According to ancient literature,Santalum album L.is not domestic,and has a long history of being imported into China from various sources.The purposes of Santalum album L.were recorded in ancient works along with different names used to refer it.Research on Santalum album L.has been generally focused on volatile oil.α-santalol and β-santalol,are the major active components of the volatile oil.Market investigation reveals that all commercially available were imports.55%of 53 collected samples were identified as counterfeit.23 of remaining 24 samples reached the minimum requirement of volatile content regulated by Ch.P,2020 edition.Properties,microscopic characteristics,and thin layer chromatography were both found unreliable for commercial classification.Volatile GC-MS fingerprints and HPLC fingerprints was developed for authentication.The results showed that there was a good correlation between the algebraic sum of volatile oil content and the content of main component of Santalum album L.and the classification grade based on properties.Based on these results,a 3level classification was proposed.The commercial classification standard of Santalum album L.proposed in this study is the first one in China,aiming to promote domestic Santalum album L.market.