This study was conducted to observe the changes in antioxidant components and active ingredients throughout the 9 cycle steaming drying process of Rehmannia glutinosa radix and Codonopsis lanceolata radix. In addition, the optimal extraction method wa...
This study was conducted to observe the changes in antioxidant components and active ingredients throughout the 9 cycle steaming drying process of Rehmannia glutinosa radix and Codonopsis lanceolata radix. In addition, the optimal extraction method was also investigated through the analysis of the indicator ingredients of Rehmannia glutinosa radix.
1. Determination of optimal extraction method of Rehmannia glutinosa radix.
To find the optimal extraction method for Rehmannia glutinosa radix, four different extraction methods were carried out. These methods were maceration extraction(ME), ultrasound-assisted extraction(UAE), reflux extraction(RE), and high-pressure hot water extraction(PHWE). The extraction yield was the highest in PHWE, followed by UAE, ME, and RE. There were no significant differences in total polyphenol and flavonoid content by extraction method. However, the ME method tended to have higher contents, and the RE method tended to have lower contents. The results of the ABTS and DPPH assays for antioxidant activity showed that ABTS activity was the highest in PHWE, and the DPPH activity was the highest in ME. Therefore, based on the antioxidant components and catalpol content results, the optimal extraction method for Rehmannaia glutinosa radix was the ME method.
2. Changes of major ingredients in Rehmannia glutinosa radix according to processing methods and steaming drying cycles.
Investigating the antioxidant activity of ABTS and DPPH according to processing methods and steaming drying cycles in Rehmannia glutinosa radix showed that the ABTS activity was the highest in Rehmannia glutinosa radix. There was no significant difference ABTS activity according to the number of steaming drying cycles from 1 to 9 cycles, but there was high antioxidant activity similar to that of ascorbic acid, which was used as a control substance in all cycles. The DPPH activity also showed a similar tendency to the ABTS activity, and there was no significant difference according to the processing method or the number of steaming drying cycles.
The content of total polyphenol showed no statistically significant differences according to the processing methods, but it tended to be the highest in nectar after 9 steaming drying cycles, followed by takju, spirit, and sugar. The polyphenol content tended to increase gradually as the number of steaming drying cycles incresed. Similar to the total polyphenol content, the content of total flavonoid tended to be the highest in nectar, followed bt takju, sugar, and spirit. it tended to increase gradually as the number of steaming dry cycles increased. The total flavonoids content tended to increase as the number of steaming drying cycles increasd, and it was confirmed that the total flavonoid content increased by two to three times as the number of steaming drying cycles increased from 0 to 9 cycles. The content of aucubin, one of the main components of Rehmannia glutinosa radix, showed a tendency to increase as the number of steaming drying cycles increased in all four processing methods. It showed a tendency to decrease with 1 cycle, and then increase after 2 cycles, showing a gradual increase. Of the processing methods, sugar had the lowest aucubin content. aucubin was the lowest in sugar, and in other treatments excluding sugar, In other treatments excluding sugar, the aucubin content tended to gradually increase as the number of steaming drying cycles increased, and takju showed the highest content in 9 cycles.
The content of catalpol as an indicator ingredient in Rehmannia glutinosa radix was not significant according to the processing method or the number of steaming dry cycles. The content of 5-HMF , an indicator ingredient of Rehmannia glutinosa preparata, increased as the number of steaming drying cycles increased. Of the processing methods, nectar showed the highest 5-HMF content, followed by takju, sugar, and spirit.
In summary, the content of antioxidant ingredients, aucubin, and 5-HMF tended to increase as the number of steaming drying cycles increased, but there was no significant difference in the catalpol content. In addition, it was confirmed that the sugar and spirit processing methods could lower the 5-HMF content of Rehmannia glutinosa preparata.
3. Changes of major ingredients in codonopsis lanceolata radix according to processing methods and steaming drying cycles.
In C. lanceolata radix, the ABTS activity according to the number of steaming drying cycles showed a tendency to decrease somewhat with 1 cycle regardless the processing methods, then it increased again from 2 cycles onward. Fuethermore, there was similar activity given 3 to 9 cycles. DPPH activity decreased with 1 to 2 cycles in sugar, was highest with 3 cycles, and showed no difference with 4 to 9 cycles. The nectar, spirit, and takju processing methods showed high activity with 1 to 2 cycles, but tended to decrease slightly with 3 to 9 cycles. The content of total polyphenol increased rapidly with 3 to 4 cycles in the nectar and sugar processing methods, and then decreased slightly as the number of steaming drying cycles further increased. There was no significant trend in the spirit and takju processing methods based on the number of steaming drying cycles.
The total flavonoid content was the highest in sugar at 9 cycles, followed by nectar, takju, and spirit. Takju increased rapidly at 9 cycles, and the content of total flavonoid in sugar, nectar, and spirit tended to increase as the number of steaming drying cycles increased. However, spirit increased as the number of steaming drying cycles increased, but then rapidly decreased at 9 cycles.
The content of lancemaside A, one of the major saponin components of C. lanceolata radix, was the highest at 1 cycle in all treatments, and rapidly decreased after 2 cycles. In addition to lancemaside A, lancemaside B, lancemaside G, and aster saponin Hb all showed a tendency to increase rapidly with 1 cycle, but then decrease again after 2 cycles. Therefore, the content of lancemasides could be greatly increased by steaming and drying for only one cycle, In particular, using a single steaming drying cycle could increase the content of lancemaside A by about 20 times compared to the results of previous studies.