Study on New Process of the Root of Codonopsis Pilosula Nannf. var. modesta (Nannf.) L. T. Shen with Honey

OBJECTIVE To optimize processing technology of the root of Codonopsis pilosula (WPP) with honey-fried. METHODS The decoction pieces of fresh WPP were moistened by refined honey and dried 2 min in microwave, and then dried under different temperatures (70-120 ℃) to obtain six honey decoction pieces of WPP (S1-S6). The decoction pieces of fresh WPP were moistened by raw honey and stir-fried to obtain honey decoction pieces of WPP (S7). S8 was prepared by traditional honey-fried processing technology. The contents of alcoholic and aqueous extracts, total flavonoids, polysaccharide, lobetyolin and atractylenolide III were determined. The ratio of common peaks area/sample weight(g) of the decoction pieces of WPP with different processing techniques in dual-wavelength chromatographic fingerprints was analyzed. The difference of each process was reflected by the ratio of common peaks area/sample weight(g) over traditional honey-fried processing technology. RESULTS The content of alcoholic extracts (58.06%), total flavonoids (2.22 mg·g^-1), polysaccharide (38.60%) and lobetyolin (1.07 mg·g^-1) in S5 pieces were higher than other decoction pieces. The ratio of twenty-two common peaks area in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprints at 267 and 320 nm/sample weight (g) of S5 over traditional honey processing was highest (19.39%). CONCLUSION The optimized process is that fresh WPP pieces moisten by refined honey and dried 2 min used microwave, and then dried at 110?℃ in oven.