Abstract
The interchangeable use of different herbs to prepare the same formulation is a common practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). However, this practice would require the component herbs to share similar compositions, at least in terms of the bioactive agents, to ensure they can replace each other in drug preparation. In this study, we developed an effective and comprehensive high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) method for simultaneous analysis of 11 phenolic compounds in the methanol extracts of Dendrobium huoshanense, Dendrobium nobile (D. nobile), Dendrobium chrysotoxum (D. chrysotoxum), and Dendrobium fimbriatum (D. fimbriatum), which have been identified as interchangeable ingredients for the same TCM preparation “Shihu” in the Chinese pharmacopeia (ChP). The consistency of the four Dendrobium species was evaluated on the basis of the presence of the 11 investigated compounds and the HPLC fingerprints of the methanol extracts of the plants. When gradient elution was performed with a solvent system of acetonitrile and water on a Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C18 (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) with monitoring at 220 nm, all 11 investigated compounds were isolated at the baseline. The established HPLC method showed excellent linearity (all analytical curves showed relative coefficients [R2] > 0.999), sensitivity, precision (relative standard deviation [RSD] < 2%), and accuracy (recovery, 90.65–99.17%). These findings confirmed that the method we constructed was reliable. Quantification analysis showed significant differences in the contents of the investigated polyphenols in the four Dendrobium species. Evaluations of consistency revealed that the similarities among the four species were 0.299–0.906 in assessments based on the 11 polyphenols and 0.685–0.968 in assessments based on HPLC fingerprints. Thus, the components of the four Dendrobium species may be significantly different, and more experiments are required to determine whether they can be used interchangeably in the same amounts for preparing the formulation according to ChP.
Highlights
Dendrobium is one of the largest groups of the family Orchidaceae (1–3), with more than 1,100 species worldwide and 74 species and two varieties in China (4)
We aimed to address this issue by developing an accurate and systematic high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) method for simultaneous analysis of 11 phenolic compounds in Dendrobium huoshanense (D. huoshanense), Dendrobium nobile (D. nobile), D. chrysotoxum (D. chrysotoxum), and Dendrobium fimbriatum (D. fimbriatum)
Compounds [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11] in the Dendrobium samples were identified by the comparison of the HPLC retention times (RTs), UV spectra, and mass spectrometry between the standards and the possible polyphenol peaks
Summary
Dendrobium is one of the largest groups of the family Orchidaceae (1–3), with more than 1,100 species worldwide and 74 species and two varieties in China (4). Dendrobium nobile Lindl, Dendrobium chrysotoxum Lindl, and Dendrobium fimbriatum Hook are the most important ingredients of Shihu These four Dendrobium species are believed to perform the same functions and can be interchangeably used for the preparation of Shihu according to the Chinese pharmacopeia (ChP). According to TCM theory, plants belonging to all the four Dendrobium species have a sweet and slightly cold nature, and their main functions are to nourish yin, clear away heat-evil, tonify the stomach, and promote fluid (5, 6). They are mainly used for treating febrile injuries, insufficiencies of stomach yin, lack of appetite and impotence, and other similar conditions. As one of the main active components of Shihu, polyphenols can improve the immune function of the body and show anti-cataract, anti-aging, antimutation, anti-tumor (15, 16), anti-inflammatory (17), and other pharmacological activities
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