| Eggplant root is the dry root and stem base of the cultivated eggplant Solanum melongena Linn.,aliased as eggplant mother and the root of eggplant.Traditional medicine thinks that eggplant root can be used as medicine,and its main pharmacological actions are anti-inflammatory and analgesia.It is clinically used to treat frostbite,rheumatic ache,periodontitis and other syndromes.The acid components and alkaloids of eggplant root are the main active ingredients.There is no quality standard of eggplant root in Chinese Pharmacopoeia.Although some local standards are included,they are different.This paper made a comprehensive and systematic study on the identification,inspection and content determination of eggplant root,as well as drafted the quality standard of eggplant root,in order to scientifically improve and perfect the draft quality standard of eggplant root.The study contents are as follows:Pharmacognostical study:Pharmacognostical study was carried out on the origin,character and harvest time of eggplant root,and microscopic identification of the microscopic characteristics cross section and powder of eggplant root.The source and harvest time of eggplant root were determined and the microscopic characteristics were verified.Identification:TLC was used to identify scopoletin in eggplant root.Silica gel G plate was used for spotting.Ethyl acetate-methanol-ammonia（15:4:1）was used as developing agent in silica gel G plate.Color development under UV lamp（365 nm）,the spots were clear and concentrated,Rf=0.37.Inspection:The contents of moisture,total ash,acid insoluble ash,extract,sulfur dioxide residue,heavy metals and harmful elements and organochlorine pesticide residues in 12 batches of eggplant roots were determined according to the general principles of PartⅣChinese Pharmacopoeia（2020 edition）.The average moisture content by drying method,total ash content and acid insoluble ash content of eggplant roots were 9.13%,6.04%and 3.34%,respectively.In the hot dipping method,the average content of eggplant root extract was 14.79%with 50%ethanol as the solvent.The average content of sulfur dioxide residue in eggplant root measured by acid-base titration was 14.33 mg·kg-1;the average contents of lead,cadmium,arsenic,mercury and copper were 0.4737mg·kg-1,0.0165 mg·kg-1,0.0987 mg·kg-1,0.1167 mg·kg-1and 10.5415mg·kg-1,respectively,determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.Determination of organochlorine pesticide residues in eggplant roots by gas chromatography.Hexachlorobenzene,α-HCH,pentachloronitrobenzene,γ-HCH,heptachlor,aldrin,β-HCH,chlordane oxide,δ-HCH,cis-epoxyheptachlor,trans-epoxyheptachlor,trans-chlordane,cis-chlordane,p,p’-DDE,o,p’-DDT,p,p’-DDD and p,p’-DDT were not detected.Content determination:HPLC method was established to determine the contents of chlorogenic acid and rutin in eggplant roots.The contents of chlorogenic acid in 12 batches of eggplant roots were 0.14 mg·g-1～0.29mg·g-1,and the number of theoretical plates was not less than 6000;the rutin contents were 0.09 mg·g-1～0.47 mg·g-1,and the number of theoretical plates was not less than 30000.In summary,this paper determined eggplant root’s pharmacognostic characteristics of the source,character and harvest time,established TLC method for identification of scopoletin,and conducted a complete inspection according to the quality standard items.The limits of eggplant root were drawn up.The contents of water,total ash,acid insoluble ash,sulfur dioxide residue,lead,cadmium,arsenic,mercury and copper should not exceed 14.0%,10.0%,5.0%,50 mg·kg-1,5 mg·kg-1,0.2 mg·kg-1,2 mg·kg-1,0.2 mg·kg-1and 20 mg·kg-1,respectively,the extract should not be less than 7.0%.The content of chlorogenic acid was not less than 0.10 mg·g-1and rutin was not less than 0.08 mg·g-1,which provided scientific research data support for the quality control of eggplant root. |
