Effects of processing technology on essential oil and pharmacological action of frankincense

Background:According to the traditional Chinese medicine theory,the common processing methods for Ruxiang(frankincense)include stir-frying processing and vinegar processing.Methods:With network pharmacology and thermal analysis methods,we selected and identified the main and irritating ingredients,established the pyrolysis characteristic parameters for identifying frankincense quality,quantified the starting and optimum temperature limits for processing frankincense,and analyzed the influences of processing adjuvants(vinegar)on combustion pyrolysis characteristics of frankincense.By applying Fourier transformation infrared spectrometry,high performance liquid chromatography,gas chromatography and UV-visible spectrometry,we evaluated the processing technology developed in our study of frankincense and its processed products.Results:Based on network pharmacology,we can find that the classical compounds of essential oil are the main pharmacodynamics components of frankincense possessing the anti-inflammatory,analgesia,anti-tumor,anti-ulcer and ant-inflammatory bowel disease effects.The pyrolysis combustion rate peaks of frankincense at 285.27±7.05℃and 476.99±13.46℃were the characteristic peaks used to identify frankincense quality.The specific temperature of slow-fire processing,including the vinegar processing and stir-frying processing,was 148.72±5.09℃.Heating for 5.67±0.98 min after reaching processing temperature was needed for processing frankincense with vinegar.The kinetics analysis showed that both frankincense and its vinegar mixture exhibited good linear relationships.The feasibility and practicability for our processing technology were verified through the determination of medicinal compounds by Fourier transformation infrared spectrometry,high performance liquid chromatography,gas chromatography and UV.Conclusion:Frankincense essential oils were the main active components of frankincense,which also can be taken as the internal chemical control indexes to judge the quality control and to optimize the processing technology of frankincense.The pyrolysis combustion rate peaks of frankincense at 285.27±7.05℃and 476.99±13.46℃were the characteristic peaks that can be used to identify frankincense quality.The optimum processing conditions of vinegar-processed frankincense with were as follows:with vinegar,20%;heating temperature,148.72±5.09℃;and heating time,5.67±0.98 min.Under these conditions,frankincense essential oil could cause a moderate effect on combustion pyrolysis characteristics to exert its corresponding pharmacological effects.

Diffusion Characteristics and Removal of Cyclohexane in Polyolefin Elastomer Melt

The diffusion coefficient of volatiles in polymer solutions is a crucial parameter to describe the mass transfer efficiency and ability of volatiles.In this research,polyolefin elastomer(POE)was used as a polymer,and cyclohexane was used as a volatile.A gravimetric analysis was applied to measure the diffusion coefficient of cyclohexane in POE.The devolatilization rate of the POE-cyclohexane system under different conditions was measured.The effects of temperature,film sample thickness,and initial concentration of volatiles on the devolatilization rate were discussed.Based on the devolatilization rate data,the average diffusion coefficient of cyclohexane in POE was obtained by fitting with a mathematical model.The experimental results indicate that the devolatilization rate increased with increasing temperature and initial concentration of volatiles,but it decreased with increasing sample thickness.As the thickness increased,the overall diffusion resistance increased.As the temperature increased,the molecular movement increased,resulting in the increase of average diffusion coefficient.The relationship between the diffusion coefficient of the POE-cyclohexane system and temperature follows the Arrhenius law.The diffusion activation energy E=6201.73 J/mol,and the pre-exponential factor of the diffusion coefficient D0=2.64×10^(-10) m^(2)/s.This work can provide basic data for exploring the devolatilization of POE polymers and serves as a useful reference for enhancing the effect of devolatilization.

Synthesis, Growth and Characterization of Nonlinear Optical Single Crystal of Serine Succinate

Nonlinear optical single crystal of Serine Succinate (SSA) was grown from a mixed solvent of water, ethanol and methanol. Since amino acid exhibits nonlinear optical property, it is of interest to dope them in serine. The overwhelming success of molecular engineering in controlling nonlinear optical properties in last decade has prompted better initiative in crystal engineering. In the present study single crystals of serine doped with succinic acid in different ratios have been grown by slow evaporation solution growth method. Grown serine succinate crystals were subjected to various characterization techniques. The cell parameters of the grown crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. FT-Raman spectral studies were carried out on the SAA grown material to confirm the synthesized compound and the functional groups of serine succinate single crystal were identified from FTIR analysis. The optical transparency and upper cut off value of UV transmission spectrum of SSA crystal were recorded. Fluorescence study was also carried out for the grown materials. The mechanical hardness was estimated by Vickers’s micro hardness tester. The second harmonic generation (SHG) of the grown crystal was confirmed by Kurtz powder technique. Thermal properties of serine succinate crystal were evaluated with thermogravimetric, differential thermal and differential scanning calorimetric analyses. The SEM studies were also reported.

Synthesis and characterization of sodium-lithium niobate ceramic structures and their composites with biopolymers

Ceramic powders of Na_(1−x)Li_(x)NbO_(3)(LNN)have been synthesized by an aqueous sol-gel route.These solid solutions were prepared from Na-Li-Nb precursor gel.The precursor was synthesized from Na-EDTA,Li-EDTA and Nb-citrate complexes and they acted as the source of Na,Li and Nb,respectively.Citric acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid(EDTA)were used as the chelating agents for Na,Li and Nb.The precursor gel was calcinated on a muffle furnace at 750℃for one hour and this provided the ceramic structures.Composites of LNN-biopolymers were prepared by the encapsulation of the ceramic structures into the biopolymeric scaffolds.The ceramic structures and composites were characterized by FTIR,NMR,TG and SEM analysis.