AIM: To study a method for the determination of Zedoary turmeric oil microsphere (ZTO-MS). METHODS: ZTO-MS was extracted supersonically by solvent and then colored by sulfuric acid-vanillin reagent. The absorbance was measured by visible-spectrophotometry at 508nm. At the same time, ZTO-MS also could be determined by HPLC. RESULTS: The content of Zedoary turmeric oil was above 60% and the contents of Curdione、Curcuma、Germacrone were 6.88%,0.95%,5.0%, respectively, in ZTO-MS. CONCLUSION: Two methods for the determination of ZTO-MS are accurate, reliable; the method of visible-spectrophotometry is convenient and appropriate for determination for content of oil in ZTO-MS, while the method of HPLC gains the advantage for qualitative and quantitative analysis of components in ZTO-MS.

Objective To prepare Gegen Qinlian Pellets with higher yield of drug loading and being good for industrial production.Methods The Gegen Qinlian Pellets were prepared by extrusion-spheronization.The effects of four key parameters on spheronization process were the proportion of bond,extrusion speed,spheronisation speed,and spheronisation time,which were investigated to obtain optimal formulation.Results Gegen Qinlian Pellets presented perfect sphericity and narrow diameter distribution.Drug loading in the pellets could be up to 70% and yelid over 90%.Conclusion The Gegen Qinlian Pellets are successfully prepared by extrusion-spheronization.It presents a method for industria-lized production of Chinese materia medica.

Objective To obtain the same release rate of four index components with significant difference of physicochemical characters,puerarin,baicalin berberine and glycyrrhizin in Gegen Qinlian Pellets.Methods Studies on improving the release rate of less soluble components in Gegen Qinlian Pellets were carried out and the parameters were optimized.The release profiles were analyzed by simulating factor(f_2).Results The f_2 values for baicalin,berberine and glycyrrhizin vs puerarin were 52.27,56.13,and 75.1,respectively.Conclusion The result shows that the same release rate of four index components in Gegen Qinlian Pellets is obtained.