Research on the Thick and Smooth Manufacturing Process Based on Multi index Quantitative Characterization
Chinese medicinal materials often need to be softened before cutting to make their texture change from hard to soft, making it easier to cut. Moisturizing is the most commonly used softening method. The experience of experienced pharmacists is summarized as “moderate lubrication” and “less soaking, more lubrication, and the medicine is fully permeable”. The degree of softening is mainly judged by human perception, such as eye observation and hand feel, and has a certain degree of subjectivity. During the process of moistening, with the infiltration of water, multiple indicators inside the medicinal herbs undergo significant changes. The quantitative characterization of these indicators is of great significance for elucidating the scientific connotation of traditional Chinese medicine moistening experience. Low field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have the characteristics of high sensitivity, fast analysis speed, non invasiveness, non destructiveness, and low cost. The texture analyzer used for physical property analysis has the advantages of objectivity and easy operation. These two technologies can quantitatively characterize the food processing process and product quality from the perspectives of moisture and physical properties, and have been widely used in the field of food research. In recent years, LF-NMR/MRI and physical property analysis techniques have also been applied in the research of traditional Chinese medicine production and processing, providing important technical means for the study of the scientific connotation of traditional Chinese medicine moisturizing experience.

Magnolia officinalis Rehd is a plant in the Magnoliaceae family Et Wils. or Magnolia officinalis Rehd The dry bark, root bark, and branch bark of et Wils. var. Bilbao Rehd. et Wils. have the effects of drying dampness, eliminating phlegm, and removing excess qi. As one of the representatives of skin type medicinal herbs, the preparation method of Magnolia officinalis from medicinal herbs to decoction pieces is “scraping off the rough skin, washing, moistening, cutting into shreds, and drying”. Before cutting, there is currently a lack of scientific and objective guidance on the degree of richness and smoothness in the processing of Magnolia officinalis. Research on the processing of Magnolia officinalis mainly focuses on the changes in chemical composition before and after processing. On the basis of the water absorption curve of Houpu Runzhi, this study intuitively quantifies and analyzes the dynamic changes in water distribution, medicinal material texture characteristics, and main active ingredient content during the moisturizing process. The aim is to elucidate the scientific connotation of the traditional experience of “less foam, more moisturizing, and more permeable medicine” in Houpu Runzhi, and provide a basis for accurate judgment of the endpoint of traditional Chinese medicine moisturizing.

 

 

Dried skin medicinal herbs must be moistened before being cut into slices. The purpose of moistening is mainly to allow the herbs to absorb a certain amount of water, making the medicinal material go from hard to soft and easy to cut. In the clinical prescription of Chinese medicine or production of traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations, pieces must be used. Magnolia officinalis is moistened and cut into thin silk pieces. If not moistened or insufficiently moistened, the hardness of Magnolia officinalis medicinal materials may be high, making it difficult to cut into silk, or moistening may cause water damage, resulting in a significant loss of effective ingredients and affecting clinical efficacy. Therefore, research on the moistening process of Magnolia officinalis is crucial. However, the determination of the endpoint of traditional moisturizing drugs is mostly based on subjective feelings, lacking objective evaluation indicators, and requiring extremely high experience from operators. This article takes water absorption rate, moisture distribution MRI image, and texture characteristics as important indicators for determining the endpoint of moisturizing, making the moisturizing results independent of subjective judgment and more scientific and accurate. It can provide reference and data support for the development of intelligent moisturizing machines.

According to the results of the water absorption experiment of Magnolia officinalis, the higher the moisturizing temperature, the shorter the moisturizing time, and the higher the water absorption rate. This may be because the higher the temperature, the faster the movement rate of water molecules, and the faster the penetration rate into the medicinal materials, which in turn leads to an increase in the softening rate of the medicinal materials and the more water they absorb; The smaller the grade, the shorter the soaking time, and the higher the water absorption rate. In addition to the difference in size between different grades of Magnolia officinalis, it may also be related to the texture differences that occur due to their different growth years. Generally, the longer the growth years, the higher the degree of lignification, which in turn affects the water absorption capacity during soaking.

LF-NMR/MRI technology can monitor the changes in the composition of free water and bound water during the process of moistening, visually displaying the dynamic migration behavior of water from the outside to the inside. MRI imaging technology can visually display the distribution of water in medicinal materials, directly determining the degree of softening of medicinal materials, and has good correlation with traditional endpoint judgment methods, which can be used as a new method to indicate the endpoint of moistening. Research on texture characteristics has shown that the physical properties of Magnolia officinalis, such as hardness, adhesion, cohesiveness, and compression cycle work, are closely related to the degree of moistening at different moistening times and have significant differences. This indicates that real-time monitoring of the changes in physical properties during the moistening process can serve as an important reference indicator for determining the endpoint of moistening. These two modern technologies can serve as important means for controlling moisture during the moisturizing process and evaluating the softening degree of medicinal materials.

At present, the moistening machine only has a single moistening function and cannot control the softening degree of medicinal materials during the moistening process. There is a lack of online detection system. LF-NMR/MRI and physical property analysis technology can evaluate the softening degree. In the future, the application of LF-NMR/MRI and physical property analysis technology in the online detection equipment of moistening machines can achieve intelligent moistening.

This article uses modern technologies such as LF-NMR/MRI and texture analyzer to objectively characterize and dynamically detect the water absorption rate, water phase and migration behavior, changes in texture characteristics, and content of indicator components during the moisturizing process of Magnolia officinalis. It intuitively characterizes the moisturizing process and analyzes the key factors affecting the moisturizing process. This provides a scientific basis for clarifying the scientific connotation of traditional moisturizing experience and optimizing moisturizing processes, important evaluation indicators for optimizing the moisturizing process and endpoint judgment, and also provides reference for the moisturizing research of other skin medicinal materials.