Research on Multi index Component Analysis of Huangqi Different Processed Products Based on HPLC Fingerprint and Chemical Pattern Recognition Method
Huangqi is the dried root of the leguminous plant Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. var. mongholicus (Bge.) Hsiao or Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. Excavate in spring and autumn, remove fibrous roots and root heads, and dry in the sun. It mainly contains polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids and other components, which have pharmacological activities such as enhancing the body’s immunity, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, etc. The processing of Huangqi has a long history. In the Song Dynasty, honey made Huangqi and salt stir fry appeared. In the early Ming Dynasty, methods such as wine stir fry, salt stir fry, and rice swill stir fry were added. Huangqi raw products have the effects of tonifying qi and promoting yang, stabilizing the surface and stopping sweating, promoting diuresis and reducing swelling; After honey roasting, it is sweet, warm, and slightly moist. It is good for nourishing qi and nourishing the middle, and can alleviate medicinal properties; Alcohol production can stimulate the upward movement of medicine, promote blood circulation, and unblock collaterals; Salt can induce medicinal herbs to descend into the kidney meridian, enhance nourishing yin and reducing fire, and alleviate the dryness of the herbs; Honey bran roasted Astragalus membranaceus is a unique processing method of Jianchang Bang. After honey bran roasting, Astragalus membranaceus not only has a fresh and fragrant color, but also has a significantly enhanced nourishing effect. Different processing methods affect their material basis, further leading to changes in drug efficacy, and the strength of the pharmacological effects of traditional Chinese medicine is closely related to its chemical composition.
At present, there have been many reports on the fingerprint of Astragalus membranaceus both domestically and internationally. The changes in its efficacy after processing are mainly due to the varying degrees of changes in its internal components. Research has shown that the content of flavonoids, polysaccharides, and glycosides in Astragalus membranaceus changes after honey processing, while there are few reports on the changes in component content before and after honey bran frying, salt processing, and alcohol processing. Therefore, in this study, HPLC was used to establish fingerprint spectra of different processed products of Astragalus membranaceus and determine the content of active ingredients. Chemical quantitative pattern recognition methods such as hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA), and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to analyze the quality of different processed products of Astragalus membranaceus, honey fried Astragalus membranaceus, salt Astragalus membranaceus, and wine Astragalus membranaceus, providing effective references for the quality of different processed products of Astragalus membranaceus and ideas for the quality evaluation of different processed products of other traditional Chinese medicines.

One of the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine is that it can only be used for medicinal purposes after undergoing certain processing methods, including cultivation, water treatment, fire treatment, and water fire combination. Different processing techniques may cause changes in the material basis, leading to differences in drug efficacy. Therefore, by processing the original properties of drugs, changes can be made to adapt to the requirements of TCM syndrome differentiation and flexible medication.

The experimental results showed that the clustering analysis was consistent with the principal component analysis. The four processed Huangqi products were mainly divided into three categories: honey bran fried Huangqi and honey fried Huangqi were each classified as one category, while salt Huangqi and wine Huangqi were closely clustered together as one category. Through the analysis of the content of indicator components, it was found that there were differences in the content of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, flavonol glucoside, Meidi rosewood glycoside, mangiferin, flavonol, and mangiferin in different processed Huangqi products. It is speculated that the changes in their content may be related to factors such as heat, time, and added excipients during the processing. Studies have shown that the processing, storage, and compound compatibility processes all produce 5-hydroxymethylfurfural or increase its content. This is consistent with the results of the previous comparative study on the changes in the content of raw Astragalus membranaceus and honey bran Astragalus membranaceus by the research team. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural is a newly added component after processing. After processing and auxiliary material preparation, certain chemical components of traditional Chinese medicine will undergo changes in quantity and quality. This experiment conducted quality analysis on four processed products of Astragalus membranaceus and found that 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was newly added to all four processed products. Compared with honey bran Astragalus membranaceus and honey fried Astragalus membranaceus, the content of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in salt Astragalus membranaceus and wine Astragalus membranaceus was reduced. This may be closely related to the chemical reactions that occur during the processing of Astragalus membranaceus, which are caused by complex chemical reactions between its internal components after soaking in salt water and alcohol, and heating processing. Compared with honey processing, salt or wine processing, the content of Meidi rosewood glycoside increases after stir frying Huangqi honey bran. It is speculated that the change in content may be related to the conversion of flavonoid glycosides under the action of added auxiliary materials and unstable heat. After stir frying with honey bran, the content of flavonoids in Huangqi increases, while wine and salt processing will reduce the content of flavonoids. The traditional honey roasting method also has an impact on the dissolution of flavonoids, possibly due to the high viscosity of Huangqi honey roasting, which infiltrates the surface of the medicinal material, makes it difficult to crush, and limits the dissolution rate.
In summary, the chemical composition of Astragalus membranaceus changes after different processing methods, and the chemical composition is the material basis for the different pharmacological effects of drugs. Therefore, the different components may be the active substances that change the efficacy of Astragalus membranaceus and its processed products. In addition, by comparing the fingerprint spectra of different processed products of Astragalus membranaceus, peak 21 was found to be a common peak for both honey bran Astragalus membranaceus and wine Astragalus membranaceus, while peak 22 was a unique peak for honey roasted Astragalus membranaceus. The author speculates that the unique peaks in these different processed products may affect the material basis of drug efficacy. At present, the research group only uses HPLC to establish fingerprint spectra for four processed products of Astragalus membranaceus for analysis. Subsequent analysis methods such as UPLC, LC-MS, and GC-MS need to be used to further analyze and discuss the newly added peaks in each processed product. Quality evaluation can also be conducted from the aspects of appearance, morphology, identification, etc., to further explore the changes in chemical composition and the quality differences between different processed products.

This experiment establishes a method that combines fingerprint spectra and content determination of different processed products of Astragalus membranaceus, and the method established through methodological investigation is effective and accurate. And combined with multivariate statistical methods to quantitatively analyze the content of six components, providing reference for the processing research of Huangqi, and also providing new ideas for the quality evaluation of different processed products of other traditional Chinese medicines