Physical and chemical analysis of epimedii herba by the packaging methods and storage periods

Abstract

In order to obtain basic data on the shelf life of Epimedii Herba (EH), a physicochemical characteristics including weight loss rate, loss on drying, ash, acid-insoluble ash, and quantitative determination were evaluated to compare the data by packaging methods including general (G), general + silica gel (GS), alumium (AL), and alumium + silica gel (ALS) packaging and storage periods (0−66 months). All physicochemical analyzes were conducted using the method of “The Korean Pharmacopoeia (KP) 9th edition”. As a result, weight loss rate (%), loss on drying (%), ash (%), acid-insoluble ash (%) of EH according to the packaging methods and storage periods were-0.27-4.73%, 3.06-9.35%, 5.48-7.37%, and 0.45-0.99, respectively. In the quantitative analysis of icariin, the marker compound of EH using high-performance liquid chromatography, the initial content was 0.44% at 0 month in all packaging methods. After that, the result of analyzing the content of icariin every 6 months was detected 0.44-1.18%. All of the above results satisfied the acceptance criteria for loss on drying, ash, acid-insoluble ash, and quantification contained in the KP. This study can be used as a basic data for establishing the packaging method and shelf life of EH. © 2019, Korean Society of Pharmacognosy. All rights reserved.