Distribution patterns of the contents of five biologically activate ingredients in the root of Scutellaria baicalensis

As an important herbaceous plant, Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi(Chinese skullcap) is geographically widespread and commonly used throughout the world. In the Chinese medicine market, S. baicalensis has been divided into two primary types, "Ku Qin"(WXR) and "Tiao Qin"(TST). Moreover, TST is also divided into different grades according to the diameter of roots. To explore the distribution patterns of the contents of five biologically activate ingredients(FBAI), we used six-year-old cultivated S. baicalensis and analyzed its growth characteristics as well as the quality difference among different types and diameters in roots. Throughout the entire root, we discovered that contents of the FBAI all initially increased and subsequently decreased from the top to the bottom of the roots. The baicalin content of WXR was less than that of TST. On the contrary, the contents of baicalein, wogonin, and oroxylin A in WXR were up to about two times higher than that in TST. We also found that the 0 to 40 cm part of the S. baicalensis root possessed about 87% of the root biomass and about 92% of the contents of the active ingredients.

DNA Extraction Protocol for Biological Ingredient Analysis of Liuwei Dihuang Wan

Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） clinical practice. So far, the methods commonly preparations are widely used for healthcare and used for quality evaluation of TCM preparations mainly focused on chemical ingredients. The biological ingredient analysis of TCM preparations is also important because TCM preparations usually contain both plant and animal ingredients, which often include some mis-identified herbal materials, adulterants or even some biological contaminants. For biological ingredient analysis, the efficiency of DNA extraction is an important factor which might affect the accuracy and reliability of identification. The component complexity in TCM preparations is high, and DNA might be destroyed or degraded in different degrees after a series of processing procedures. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an effective protocol for DNA extraction from TCM preparations. In this study, we chose a classical TCM preparation, Liuwei Dihuang Wan （LDW）, as an example to develop a TCM-specific DNA extraction method. An optimized cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide （CTAB） method （TCM-CTAB） and three commonly-used extraction kits were tested for extraction of DNA from LDW samples. Experimental results indicated that DNA with the highest purity and concentration was obtained by using TCM-CTAB. To further evaluate the different extraction methods, amplification of the second internal transcribed spacer （ITS2） and the chloroplast genome trnL intron was carried out.