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Direct and model-free detection of carbohydrate excipients in traditional Chinese medicine formula granules by ATR-FTIR microspectroscopic imaging

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Abstract

A formula granule is a traditional Chinese medicine preparation made from the decoction of a single herbal medicinal. Because of the flexibility for combination and the convenience for utilization, formula granules are becoming popular in clinical applications. However, the efficacy and safety of commercial formula granules often suffer from the improper addition of carbohydrate excipients. Therefore, the detection of carbohydrate excipients is indispensable for the quality control of formula granules. FTIR spectroscopy has been used for the detection of carbohydrate excipients in formula granules. But the overlapped absorption signals limit the sensitivity and specificity of detection. Besides, a large number of multivariate calibration models are needed for quantitative determination. To overcome the above disadvantages, this research utilizes FTIR microspectroscopy for the model-free and universal detection of carbohydrate excipients in formula granules. Using ATR-FTIR imaging, excipient particles and herbal extract particles in formula granules can be measured individually, which resolves the absorption signals of excipients and herbal extract spatially and thus improves the sensitivity and specificity of detection. The content of excipients can be estimated directly from the number of excipient particles, which is robust to the variations of herb extracts and free of calibration models. The case study of Gardeniae Fructus formula granules shows the potential of FTIR microspectroscopy in the direct and rapid detection of carbohydrate excipients in formula granules.

Excipient particles in TCM formula granules can be measured and recognized individually by FTIR microspectroscopy

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Acknowledgements

The authors thanks the financial support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31370556).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China

    Jianbo Chen

  2. Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry & Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Suqin Sun & Qun Zhou

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  1. Jianbo Chen
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  2. Suqin Sun
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Correspondence to Jianbo Chen.

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Chen, J., Sun, S. & Zhou, Q. Direct and model-free detection of carbohydrate excipients in traditional Chinese medicine formula granules by ATR-FTIR microspectroscopic imaging. Anal Bioanal Chem 409, 2893–2904 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0234-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0234-9

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