Component Comparison of the Raw and Processed Arctii Fructus and Elucidation of its Processing Principle

Arctii Fructus, the dry fruit of Arctium lappa L. is a generally used drug in traditional Chinese medicine. In Chinese patent medicine, the processed Arctii Fructus was mostly used. The stir-frying method is the mainstream processing method according to the treatises in different dynasties. We firstly studied the optimal procedure for the processing of Arctii Fructus by Orthogonal Experimental Design. Then the fingerprints and contents of chief constituents in raw and processed Arctii Fructus were compared and the extraction ratios of lignans in the two materials were compared. Therefore, the processing principle of Arctii Fructus was concluded as: 1) Protection arctiin from hydrolysis by degradation of hydrolysis enzyme in Arctii Fructus; 2) To extract the active constituents from Arctii Fructus easily by making the pericarp texture of Arctii Fructus crisp; 3) Abate the nature of Arctii Fructus by attenuating the purgative action caused by the content by decreasing both lipids and arctiin. Fig.1: The HPLC Fingerprint of Raw Arctii Fructus Fig.2: The HPLC Fingerprint of Processed Arctii Fructus Acknowledgements: Thanks for the funding of China's Pharmacopoeia Committee and State Eleventh-five-year Plan of China.