Enhanced permanganate oxidation of phenolic pollutants by alumina and potential industrial application.

In this study, we found that alumina (Al2O3) may improve the degradation of phenolic pollutants by KMnO4 oxidation. In KMnO4/Al2O3 system, the removal efficiency of 2,4-Dibromophenol (2,4-DBP) was increased by 26.5%, and the apparent activation energy was decreased from 44.5 kJ/mol to 30.9 kJ/mol. The mechanism of Al2O3-catalytic was elucidated by electrochemical processes, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization and theoretical analysis that the oxidation potential of MnO4- was improved from 0.46 V to 0.49 V. The improvement was attributed to the formation of coordination bonds between the O atoms in MnO4- and the empty P orbitals of the Al atoms in Al2O3 crystal leading to the even-more electron deficient state of MnO4-. The excellent reusability of Al2O3, the good performance on degradation of 2,4-DBP in real water, the satisfactory degradation of fixed-bed reactor, and the enhanced removal of 6 other phenolic pollutants demonstrated that the KMnO4/Al2O3 system has satisfactory potential industrial application value. This study offers evidence for the improvement of highly-efficient MnO4- oxidation systems.

[Determination of saponins in Dipsaci Radix by HILIC-HPLC].

OBJECTIVE: To develop an HILIC-HPLC method for simultaneous analysis of three main active triterpenoid saponins including dipsacus asponin VI, dipsacus asponin X and dipsacus asponin XII. To evaluate the medical material from various habitats in China, different commercial grades or parts of plant. METHOD: The HPLC was conducted on Venusil HILIC column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) with acetonitrile and water as the mobile phase at 25 degrees C, which was in gradient elution. The flow rate was 1 mL x min(-1); and the detection wavelength was 203 nm. RESULT: The contents of dipsacus asponin VI, X and XII were 0.77%-14.31%, 0.39%-3.19% and 0.41%-1.49% respectively in different provinces of China, that were related to locations. The contents of saponins from Yunnan and Sichuan provinces were higer than those of Hubei and Guizhou. Thick roots, which were high-class products, contained less saponins than thin ones. In addition, the contents of stem, residual parts of stem and fibrous roots were fewer than main roots. CONCLUSION: This method is simple, sensitive and accurate. It could be used to determine the contents of dipsacus asponin VI, X, XII and evaluate the quality of dipsacus asperoides.

[Molecular methods for authentication of Chinese medicinal materials].

The resource authentication is required for quality assurance and control of Chinese medicine. This review provides an informative introduction to molecular methods used for authentication of Chinese medicinal materials. The technical features of the methods based on sequencing, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and hybridization are described, merits and demerits and development of the molecular methods in identification of Chinese medicinal materials are discussed.

[Molecular authentication of medicinal Epimedium species--a case of diagnostic PCR authentication of Epimedium koreanum].

OBJECTIVE: To establish the allele-specific diagnostic PCR methods for Epimedium koreanum. METHOD: ITS of eight medicinal Epimedium species were sequenced and downloaded from GenBank, and aligned to find the specific sites in E. koreanum. The diagnostic primers were designed based on the sites, and used to amplify all the samples, then verified with the crude drugs and decoction pieces from market. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: Two pairs of allele-specific diagnostic primers were successfully used to indentify E. koreanum from other medicinal species, and also can be used to identify the crude drugs and decoction pieces.

[Sampling in quality control of medicinal materials-A case of Epimedium].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of the different individual number of sampling on the assay results of the medicinal materials. METHOD: Epimedium pubescens and E. brevicornu were used as samples. The 6 sampling levels were formulated as 1 individual, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50 individuals mix, each level with 3 parallels and 1 individual level5 parallels. The contents of epimedin C and icariin, and the peak areas of epimedin A, epimedin B, rhamnosyl icarisid II and icarisid II in all samples were analyzed by HPLC. RESULT: The variation degree varied with species and chemical constituents, but the RSD and the deviation from the true value decreased with the increase of individual number on the same chemical constituent. CONCLUSION: The sampling number should be more than 10 individuals in quality control of Epimedium, and 50 or more individuals would be better for representing the quality of medicinal materials.