Infrared authentication of ginseng species: the use of the 2-6PC rule.

J AOAC Int. 2009 Mar-Apr; 92(2): 672-9Yap KY, Lai TK, Chan SY, Lim CSThe quality of herbal products is important for ensuring efficacy and consumer safety. Traditional methods of authenticating herbs like ginseng via their morphology are hardly reliable. Different chemical constituents in herbs like ginseng tend to exhibit characteristic IR fingerprints that enable their identification. We previously introduced an IR-based protocol known as the "2-6PC rule" to categorize and identify ginseng and its products, as well as distinguishing it from morphological fakes. Here, we describe the use of this rule as a rapid and effective means of analyzing the IR spectral fingerprints of the biologically active components of ginseng, as well as distinguishing among its species. Our results show that Panax ginseng, P. quinquefolius, and P. notoginseng can be differentiated from each other. Our results also indicate the presence of starch, carbohydrates, calcium oxalate, and ginsenosides Re and Rg1 in commercial ginseng roots sold in Singapore. This work effectively demonstrates the usefulness of the 2-6PC rule as a rapid screening tool in the authentication of ginseng species.

Development of chromatographic methods for determination of agrimoniin and related polyphenols in pharmaceutical products.

J AOAC Int. 2009 Mar-Apr; 92(2): 410-8Fecka IThin-layer chromatography (TLC) and liquid chromatography (LC) methods were developed for the qualitative and quantitative determination of agrimoniin, pedunculagin, ellagic acid, gallic acid, and catechin in selected herbal medicinal products from Rosaceae: Anserinae herba, Tormentillae rhizoma, Alchemillae herba, Agrimoniae herba, and Fragariae folium. Unmodified silica gel (TLC Si60, HPTLC LiChrospher Si60) and silica gel chemically modified with octadecyl or aminopropyl groups (HPTLC RP18W and HPTLC NH2) were used for TLC. The best resolution and selectivity were achieved with the following mobile phases: diisopropyl ether-acetone-formic acid-water (40 + 30 + 20 + 10, v/v/v/v), tetrahydrofuran-acetonitrile-water (30 + 10 + 60, v/v/v), and acetone-formic acid (60 + 40, v/v). Concentrations of the studied herbal drugs were determined by using a Chromolith Performance RP-18e column with acetonitrile-water-formic acid as the mobile phase. Determinations of linearity, range, detection and quantitation limits, accuracy, precision, and robustness showed that the HPLC method was sufficiently precise for estimation of the tannins and related polyphenols mentioned above. Investigations of suitable solvent selection, sample extraction procedure, and short-time stability of analytes at storage temperatures of 4 and 20 degrees C were also performed. The percentage of agrimoniin in pharmaceutical products was between 0.57 and 3.23%.

[Hypericum extract for treatment of depression: what's new?]

Harefuah. 2009 Mar; 148(3): 183-5, 210, 209Baruch YThe use of Hypericum as an herbal medicine was first described in the time of Hippocrates and Hypericum has been used as an antidepressant since the 1500s. In the last 20 years, the use of Hypericum for treating depression has entered the arena of conventional medicine. In Germany, for example, Hypericum is prescribed four times as often as Prozac for depression. Many articles have been published on the efficacy and safety of Hypericum in treating mild to moderate depression, including a meta-analysis that was published in 2005 in the British Journal of Psychiatry. This meta-analysis summarized the results of 37 studies, that were conducted on 5,000 subjects, comparing Hypericum to placebo and other antidepressants. The authors of the meta-analysis concluded that Hypericum products are effective in the treatment of mild to moderate depression with fewer side effects compared to traditional antidepressants. In cases of severe depression, insufficient evidence was found of Hypericum's efficacy. The current review provides details of the results of the clinical trials on Hypericum that were published in 2005-2006, and presents information on the novel mechanism of action of Hypericum. The safety and possible drug interactions of Hypericum are also reviewed.

Simultaneous quantification of five major constituents in stems of Dracaena plants and related medicinal preparations from China and Vietnam by HPLC-DAD.

Biomed Chromatogr. 2009 Jun 1; Fan LL, Tu PF, Chen HB, Cai SQA high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the simultaneous quantification of five major bioactive constituents in the stems of resiniferous Dracaena plants from China and Vietnam, as well as those in the related traditional Chinese medicinal preparations. A diode array detector with the wavelength of 330 nm was used to monitor resveratrol, 7,4'-dihydroxyflavone and pterostilbene, while loureirin A and loureirin B were monitored at 280 nm. The five constituents were separated on an Agela SB C(18) column by gradient elution using 0.008% (v/v) formic acid solution (A) and acetonitrile (B) as the mobile phase. The validation of the method included recovery, linearity, accuracy and precision (intra- and inter-day variation). The range of recoveries of this method was 98.1-104.9%, with all the constituents showing good linearity (r(2) > 0.9999). The accuracy and precision were satisfactory, with the overall intra- and inter-day variation being less than 4%. The present method has been successfully applied for the determination of all five constituents in 21 related herbal samples including 10 D. cochinchinensis stem samples, seven D. cambodiana stem samples and four purchased medicinal preparations. The contents of these constituents were analyzed using principal component analysis, which can efficiently identify raw herb of Dracaena from different sources. The study may be considered helpful to the quality control of Dracena plants and its medicinal preparations. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.