[Preliminary attempt at the speciation of 25-elements in the Chinese medicinal herbs].
OBJECTIVE
To make an attempt at the multi-element speciation in the Chinese medicinal herbs by determining the concentrations of 25 elements in different extraction solutions.


METHODS
Firstly, five Chinese medicinal herbs (Buddleja officinalis, Dictamnus dasycarpus, Myristica fragrans, Albizia judibrissin and Inula japonica) from the same region of China were treated to obtain water-soluble phase, lipid-soluble phase and non-soluble phase by water extraction, organic solvent extraction and acid digestion, respectively. Secondly, Phytolacca acinosa, a Chinese medicinal herb collected from 9 regions of China, was extracted by 0% EtOH, 50% EtOH, 75% EtOH, 95% EtOH, respectively, referring the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Finally, the concentrations of 25 elements, such as Be, Cr, Cu, Zn, Ge, Sr, Y, Mo, Cd, Tl, Pb and REEs, in the above three phases were determined by ICP-MS.


RESULTS
Under the optimal conditions, all the 25 elements could be determined with detection limits ranged from 0.003 to 0.71 ng x g(-1). The average recoveries of the elements in P. acinosa were 88% approximately 119%, with the relative standard deviations 1.7% approximately 13.3%. It was observed that the determined 25 elements distributed in all the water-soluble, lipid-soluble and non-soluble phases, indicating that the inorganic species, organicspecies, as well as the protein bound species were coexisted in the herbs. Big differences of the element extraction rates could be found by using different ethanol solutions.


CONCLUSIONS
With the aid of the obtained results, we may increase the extraction of necessary elements while decrease that of the toxic elements from the herbs by choosing a suitable solvent during the drug production.
Wang
Jing-Yu
JY
School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100083, China. wjy@bjmu.edu.cn
Li
Ouyang
O
Liu
Ya-Qiong
YQ
Xie
Qing
Q
Huang
Zhuo
Z
Tu
Peng-Fei
PF
Guo
Xu-Lin
XL
Liu
Hu-Sheng
HS
D032861:Buddleja / Q000737:chemistry; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis; D036905:Dictamnus / Q000737:chemistry; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017753:Ecosystem; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D008982:Molybdenum / Q000032:analysis; D026323:Myristica / Q000737:chemistry; D029603:Phytolacca / Q000737:chemistry*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012997:Solvents; D014131:Trace Elements; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D003300:Copper; D008982:Molybdenum; D015032:Zinc