特征含硫衍生物对硫熏牡丹皮检控的意义

Sulfur-containing derivatives as characteristic chemical markers in control of sulfur-fumigated Moutan Cortex

二氧化硫残留量是当前硫熏药材检控的法定指标,但该指标能否客观反映药材硫熏程度有待深入研究。牡丹皮硫熏后会产生特征含硫衍生物。本文采用UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS对硫熏牡丹皮中特征含硫衍生物进行确证,并对贮藏前后特征含硫衍生物的量与二氧化硫残留量进行统计学分析。发现贮藏可导致药材中二氧化硫残留量显著下降,但特征含硫衍生物含量没有明显改变,说明二氧化硫残留量不一定能真正反映牡丹皮的硫熏程度,以特征含硫衍生物作为硫熏药材的检控指标更具适用性。

The amount of sulfur dioxide residue is currently employed by Chinese Pharmacopoeia（CP） as an index to screen sulfur-fumigated herbs, but it is unclear if this index can objectively reflect the quality of sulfur-fumigated herbs. In the present study, sulfur-containing derivatives were confirmed in sulfur-fumigated Moutan Cortex（MC） by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS analysis, and the contents of sulfur-containing derivatives and sulfur dioxide residues were statistically analyzed both in self-made and commercially available sulfur-fumigated and non-fumigated MC as well as the samples thereof before and after eight-month storage. The amount of sulfur dioxide was significantly decreased, but that of the newly-generated sulfur-containing markers was not, after eight-month storage of the sulfur-fumigated MC samples, indicating that the amount of sulfur dioxide residue may not be positively correlated with the quality of sulfur-fumigated MC. Therefore, sulfur dioxide residue index alone may not objectively reflect the sulfur-fumigation extent（quality change extent） of MC, more specific method using characteristic sulfur-containing derivatives as chemical markers should be developed to supplement the sulfur dioxide residue determination in the quality control of sulfur-fumigated MC.