Optimization of water extraction process for Wenyang Tongbian Decoction by multi-index comprehensive scoring method plus orthogonal experiment
OBJECTIVE To optimize the water extraction process of Wenyang Tongbian Decoction(WTD)and provide ref-erences for industrial production of this preparation.METHODS Using liquid chromatography tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry,Agilent ZORBAX SB-C18(150 mm×2.1 mm,5 pm)was selected with a mobile phase of acetonitrile(A)and 0.1%formic acid solution(B)and a gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.25 mL·min-1.Column temperature was at 30 ℃.The positive and negative ion modes of multiple reaction monitoring(MRM)were utilized for determining the contents of 7 compo-nents,namely echinacoside,cinnamaldehyde,calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside,β-ecdysterone,ligustilide,synephrine and isoferulic acid in the preparation of WTD.The contents and yields of 7 components were employed as evaluation parameters,weight coefficients of each parameter determined by analytic hierarchy process and comprehensive scores calculated.The effects of solid-liquid ratio,extraction time and extraction frequency on comprehensive score were examined by single factor test.The level of each factor was determined.Using comprehensive scores of the above 8 parameters,water extraction process of WTD was opti-mized by orthogonal experiment and validation tests.RESULTS Weight coefficients for the contents of echinacoside,cinnamal-dehyde,calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside,β-ecdysterone,ligustilide,synephrine,isoferulic acid and yield of dry extract were 0.233 89,0.233 89,0.140 04,0.140 04,0.082 92,0.082 92,0.051 58 and 0.034 72.Optimal process of water extraction was determined as a solid-liquid ratio of 1∶10,extracting thrice and for 0.5 h each time.RSD of comprehensive scores of 3 batches of validation tests were 6.57%.CONCLUSION The optimized process of water extraction is both stable and feasible for WTD.