Effect of Irradiation on Extraction of Active Components from Ligusticum Wallichii and Other Chinese Medicinal Materials

Panax ginseng, Coptis chinensis, Astragalus membranaceus, Ligusticum wallichii, Gastrodia elata and Salvia miltiorrhiza were used as the research objects. The effects of irradiation on the extraction rate of the main components of Chinese medicinal materials were studied by ⁶⁰Co-γ irradiation and electron beam accelerator. Solvent ultrasonography was used to extract the active components of Chinese medicinal materials, the content changes of ginsenoside, gastrodin and other effective components were investigated. High performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet spectroscopy results showed that the content of main active ingredients in Coptis chinensis and Astragalus membranaceus could be increased, the proportion of different kind of ginsenosides could be changed, and the content of effective ingredients such as Ligusticum wallichii, Gastrodia elata and Salvia miltiorrhiza could be decreased after assisted treatment of certain irradiation dosage. Irradiation-assisted treatment is beneficial to improve the extraction rate of effective components of Chinese medicinal materials with relatively stable structure or high cellulose content, which is not easy to extract. The effect of irradiation on the extraction of six kinds of Chinese medicinal materials was studied in this paper, which provided the research basis for the application of irradiation technology in the extraction of Chinese medicinal materials.