Identification of Confusable Herbal Medicines by Mapping of Partial Degradation Products from Herbal Medicine Polysaccharides

Abstract

Partial degradation products (PDPs) of herbal medicine (HM) polysaccharides with precolumn derivatization using 1-phenyl-3-methy-5-pyrazolone (PMP) were mapped by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and three groups of confusable HMs were differentiated using the PDP fingerprints assisted with cluster analysis (CA). Three variables of HPLC mobile phase, i.e. acetonitrile proportion, buffer concentration and pH value were optimized with PDP of β-cyclodextrin. Radix Glehniae and Radix Adenophorae; Radix Sophorae Tokinensis and Rhizoma Menispermi; Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae and Radix Cyathulae were successfully distinguished by the method, respectively. The results involving mass spectrometry analysis showed that these PDPs primarily included oligosaccharides and a few monosaccharides. The method can be used as an effective approach for the identification and quality control of HMs, and can also facilitate the in-depth study of biological activity and further development of HM polysaccharides to some extent.

Establishment and application of characteristic degradation fingerprint for the quality control of Compound Banlangen Granules polysaccharides

“…At the same time, the actual production processes between different manufacturers, equipment models, controlled process parameters, operators, and other factors, result in different product quality. Zhang et al [29] used the CZE method to determine the partial acid degradation products of polysaccharides in fermented Cordyceps powder and found that the CZE fingerprints of partial acid degradation products of polysaccharides from different fermented Cordyceps powder capsules were obviously different. Liu et al [30] established the characteristic fingerprint of monosaccharides in Ginkgo armillaria oral solution based on the precolumn derivation highperformance liquid chromatography method and found that the total degradation fingerprint of G. armillaria oral solution polysaccharide from different manufacturers was obviously different.…”

“…The partial degraded products of polysaccharides not only have biological activities but also can reflect the structural characteristics of the original polysaccharides [9]. Based on the characteristics of polysaccharides degradation products, our group has completed the identification of easily mixed medicinal materials such as R. glehniae and R. adenophorae , R. sophorae tokinensis and Rhizoma menispermi , R. achyranthis bidentatae and R. cyathulae , etc [10], which provides a new way for the quality control of TCM. At present, the monosaccharide composition of CBG polysaccharides has been determined to be composed of xylose, arabinose, glucose, rhamnose, mannose, galactose, glucuronic acid, and galacturonic acid in our previous work [11], whereas the study of partial degradation products of CBG polysaccharides has not been reported.…”

Analysis of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry: An update for 2017–2018

“…Confusable herbal medicines are those with similar characteristics, name or mixed clinical prescription but differ because of, for example, different traditional use. To identify such medicines, polysaccharides have been extracted, converted into PMP derivatives and examined by HPLC and MALDI‐quadrupole ion trap (QIT)‐TOF MS (Yang, Guo, et al, 2018).…”