Abstract:

Asa traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Dictamni Cortex is widely used for the treatment of rheumatism and skin diseases. To promote the internationalization of Dictamni Cortex, we established a recommended quality standard of Dictamni Cortex according to the European Pharmacopoeia (EP) in the present study. Foreign matter, loss on drying, total ash and ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid were determined according to the procedures of EP 8.0. The thin layer chromatography (TLC) identification method was established by using obacunone and fraxinellone as the reference substances. The content of dictamnine, obacunone and fraxinellone was assayed by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Furthermore, we tested 21 batches of the prepared slices of Dictamni Cortex from different regions. The results indicated that the established quality standard was specific, accurate and internationalized, which could be used for the quality control of Dictamni Cortex.

Key words: Dictamni Cortex, Quality standard, European Pharmacopoeia, HPLC