Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Astragali Radix, the root of Astragalus membranaceus Bunge, is a crude drug used widely in Oriental medicines as a tonic and in ordinary foods such as chicken soup. The herb is used in the treatment of patients with symptoms such as weakness and fatigue, or of patients with numbness of limbs and apoplectic sequelae. Astragali Radix has a good note, a dry-green, mild fruity and fruity-winey odor, as well as a medicinal one. The most of Astragali Radix products are circulated as a dried form like any other herbal medicinal materials in the market. The volatiles of fresh, oven-dried and freeze-dried Astragali Radix were analyzed by second-dimensional GC coupled to mass spectrometer after SPME sampling. Seventy three volatile compounds were identified in the three types of Astragali Radix samples. Only 27% and 7% of the fresh volatiles survived after oven-drying and freeze-drying, respectively. Each 10 volatiles were newly detected in each dried sample. The canonical discriminant analysis showed the samples were clearly differentiated from each other by the fresh and dried Astragali Radix volatiles.
Keywords: Astragali Radix, Drying Methods, GC × GC-TOFMS, Volatile Compounds