Ophicalcitum revealed: composition, safety, and rapid quality control by multi-spectroscopy

Area of Science:

• Mineralogy and geochemistry of traditional medicines.
• Analytical chemistry and quality control of natural products.

Background:

• Ophicalcitum is a traditional hemostatic mineral drug requiring strict quality control for safe clinical application.
• Understanding its mineralogical composition and potential contaminants is crucial for efficacy and sustainable use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the mineralogical composition of Ophicalcitum.
• To quantify contamination levels and assess associated health risks.
• To develop rapid, non-destructive analytical methods for quality control.

Main Methods:

• Micro-confocal Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), automated mineral identification and characterization system (AMICS).
• Thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
• Near-infrared partial least squares (NIR-PLS) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) for quantification and classification.

Main Results:

• Identified calcite, dolomite, serpentine, chlorite, and magnetite; quantified Ca and Mg distribution.
• Detected elevated levels of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, As) and other elements (Fe, Al, Si).
• Demonstrated that water-flying and calcination methods significantly reduce toxic element content.

Conclusions:

• The study clarifies Ophicalcitum's composition and verifies the safety of processed products.
• Optimized NIR-PLS models offer rapid, green assays for quality control.
• Provides an analytical framework for mineral-derived medicines quality assurance.