Abstract
Boswellic acids (BAs), as the main components of frankincense, exhibit notable anti-inflammatory properties. However, their pharmaceutical development has been severely limited by their poor oral bioavailability. Traditional Chinese medicinal processing, called Pao Zhi, is believed to improve bioavailability, yet the mechanism is still completely unclear. Previous research suggested that the bioavailability of a drug can be influenced by physical properties. This paper was designed to investigate the physical properties of frankincense and processed frankincense, including the surface morphology, particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential (ZP), specific surface area, porosity, and viscosity. The differences in the intestinal absorption characteristics and equilibrium solubilities between frankincense and processed frankincense were determined by an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a triple quadrupole electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TQ-MS) analysis method. The results showed that vinegar processing can alter the surface morphology, decrease the particle size and PDI, raise the absolute values of the ZP, specific surface area and porosity, and drop the viscosity of frankincense. Meanwhile, the rates of absorption and dissolution of the main BAs were increased after the processing of frankincense. The present study proves that the physical properties were changed after processing, in which case the bioavailability of frankincense was enhanced.
Highlights
Frankincense is the oleo gum-resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia native to the Arabian Peninsula (Boswellia sacra), Africa (Boswellia carteri, Boswellia frereana), and India (Boswellia serrata) [1,2]
Vinegar processing mainly contributes to the crushing process of frankincense, thereby resulting in the decrease of the particle size
Vinegar processing mainly contributes to the crushing process of frankincense, thereby resulting in an increase of the specific surface area
Summary
Frankincense is the oleo gum-resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia (family Burseraceae) native to the Arabian Peninsula (Boswellia sacra), Africa (Boswellia carteri, Boswellia frereana), and India (Boswellia serrata) [1,2]. Appropriate processing approaches have been used to reduce the toxicity and exert a large maximal therapeutic efficacy, such as vinegar stir-frying and wine stir-frying [13] Their effects on improving the bioavailability cannot be ignored either. Treatment with the processed frankincense significantly increased the levels of AUC, Cmax , T1/2 and MRT of KBA and AKBA in rats compared with the crude sample [12]. It has been proven that when the surface area becomes larger, the dissolution rate of the drug is promoted, and the bioavailability is improved [18,19]. Another physical factor responsible for poor bioavailability is the viscosity. This study is helpful to define and understand the mechanism for the bioavailability enhancement after vinegar processing
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