Summary of Physical and Chemical Analysis Items of Plant Extracts

1. The definition of plant extracts

Plant extracts are based on plants as raw materials. According to the needs of the final product extracted, through physical and chemical extraction and separation processes, one or more active ingredients in the plant are obtained and concentrated, without changing the structure of the active ingredients. According to the different components of the extracted plants, glycosides, acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc. are formed; According to the properties of the final product, it can be divided into vegetable oils, extracts, powders, lenses, etc. Its processing technology mainly includes resin separation technology, organic solvent extraction technology, carbon dioxide supercritical fluid extraction technology, new chlorofluorocarbon solvent extraction and so on.

Chengdu Kindarco Biotech, as a professional plant extracts manufacturer, not only has advanced technologies of plant extracts but offers various kinds of plant extracts.

2. The main testing and analysis items of plant extracts

(1) Testing of the main effective substances of plant extracts

There are a wide variety of active ingredients in plant extracts, such as pigments (apigenin extract), glycosides, phenols, sugars, lipids, etc. These substances have different effects on different products. If all active ingredients need to be tested, it will be very costly and time-consuming. Therefore, according to actual needs, we test some ingredients and not all active ingredients should be tested. Therefore, the standard for judging the quality of plant extracts is the content of the main ingredients.

(2) The content of heavy metal

Heavy metals cannot be biodegraded in the environment, and can be enriched in organisms through the food chain, and can even be transformed into more toxic chemical forms. Therefore, after heavy metal ions enter the organism, they will cause different degrees of interference and damage to the normal physiological and metabolic functions of the organism. As a result, the organism will suffer from poisoning and even death in severe cases. It is generally believed that after entering the organism, heavy metal ions interact with the active sites or some inactive sites of macromolecular substances such as proteins, nucleic acids, and enzymes in the organism, thereby affecting the normal physiological functions of biological macromolecules.

According to the relevant content of the 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia on the detection of heavy metals in licorice extract, its heavy metals and harmful elements: Measured according to the determination method of lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and copper, lead shall not exceed 5mg/kg; Cadmium shall not exceed 0.3mg /kg; Arsenic shall not exceed 2mg/kg; Mercury shall not exceed 0.2mg/kg; Copper shall not exceed 20mg/kg. Commonly used detection methods include inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrophotometry; Commonly used instruments are atomic absorption spectrophotometer and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer.

(3) Pesticide residues

Hazards of pesticide residues: After the agricultural products with pesticide residues are eaten by people, the pesticide residues may have adverse effects on the human body, such as damaging the nervous system, paralyzing muscles, and damaging the respiratory tract. It may also accumulate in the body and cause greater harm to human health and can threaten lives in some serious cases.

Types of plant extracts are often sprayed with pesticides, so it is necessary to determine pesticide residues.

(4) Microbial content and requirement on limitation of quantity

Microorganisms multiply under suitable conditions, producing a large number of pathogenic microorganisms and corresponding toxins, causing serious infection and poisoning. For example, the presence of microorganisms is likely to affect product quality. For example, it is likely to have gas production, acid production, etc., which not only affects the appearance of the product but also affects the quality of the product.

The general rule of the 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia is that the total number of colonies is less than or equal to 1,000·g-1, and the mold is less than or equal to 100·g-1, and neither Escherichia coli nor Salmonella shall be detected.