Comparative investigation for raw and processed Aconiti Lateralis Radix using chemical UPLC-MS profiling and...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Chemometrics
• Pharmacognosy

Background:

• Aconiti Lateralis Radix is a traditional Chinese medicine with various processing methods.
• Ensuring the quality and efficacy of processed herbal medicines is crucial.
• Understanding the chemical changes during processing is essential for quality control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a strategy for comparing raw and processed Aconiti Lateralis Radix.
• To identify characteristic chemical compounds responsible for differentiating between raw and processed forms.
• To assess the rationality of traditional processing methods based on chemical composition.

Main Methods:

• Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS) for chemical profiling.
• Identification of 18 characteristic compounds for discrimination.
• Multivariate analyses including Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Counter-Propagation Artificial Neural Network (CP-ANN).

Main Results:

• UPLC-MS successfully identified 18 characteristic compounds in Aconiti Lateralis Radix.
• Chemometric analyses (HCA, PCA, CP-ANN) clearly discriminated between raw Aconiti Lateralis Radix, Heishunpian, and Baifupian.
• The study confirmed the effectiveness of the applied strategy in differentiating processed herbal products.

Conclusions:

• The combined UPLC-MS and chemometric strategy is effective for comparing raw and processed herbal medicines.
• This approach can be a general procedure to evaluate the rationality of processing methods based on chemical composition.
• The findings support the scientific basis for traditional processing of Aconiti Lateralis Radix.