title: Element analysis and characteristic identification of non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. using microwave digestion-inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry combined with Fourier transform infrared spectrometry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sulfur-fumigation may induce chemical transformation of traditional Chinese medicines leading to harmful effects following patient ingestion. For quality control, it is urgently needed to develop a reliable and efficient method for sulfur-fumigation identification.
  
  
  METHODS
  The spectrochemical identification of non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. was carried out to evaluate inorganic elements and organic components. The concentrations of 12 elements, including Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Sr, Pb, As, Cd, Hg, and S of samples were determined by microwave digestion - inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Meanwhile, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) was used for the study of chemical group characteristic reactions after sulfur-fumigation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The concentrations of Fe, Mg, Hg, and S elements showed significant differences between non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. The characteristic stretching vibrations of some groups in FTIR spectra, such as -OH, -S = O and -S-O, provided the identification basis for the discrimination of non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated Fritillaria thunbergii Miq.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The application of microwave digestion - ICP-AES was successfully used in combination with FTIR to authenticate and evaluate the quality of medicinal Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. Further applications of this technique should be explored.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Materia Medica, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Engineering Center of State Ministry of Education for Standardization of Chinese Medicine Processing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yajing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Materia Medica, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Engineering Center of State Ministry of Education for Standardization of Chinese Medicine Processing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; National First-Class Key Discipline for Science of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Materia Medica, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Engineering Center of State Ministry of Education for Standardization of Chinese Medicine Processing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; National First-Class Key Discipline for Science of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Sicong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Materia Medica, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Engineering Center of State Ministry of Education for Standardization of Chinese Medicine Processing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Materia Medica, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Engineering Center of State Ministry of Education for Standardization of Chinese Medicine Processing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Engineering Center of State Ministry of Education for Standardization of Chinese Medicine Processing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; National First-Class Key Discipline for Science of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Research Center of TCM Processing Technology, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis and Metabolomics, Jiangsu Province Academy of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Songlin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Materia Medica, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Engineering Center of State Ministry of Education for Standardization of Chinese Medicine Processing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Kunming
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Materia Medica, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Engineering Center of State Ministry of Education for Standardization of Chinese Medicine Processing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; National First-Class Key Discipline for Science of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China ; Research Center of TCM Processing Technology, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Baochang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cai
keywords: Fourier transform infrared spectrometry; Fritillaria thunbergii Miq.; microwave digestion - ICP-AES; sulfur-fumigation