Licorice is one of the most commonly used traditional Chinese medicine. In clinic, raw licorice and honey-fried licorice are used in medicines, with the main effects in clearing away heat and detoxifying, moistening lungs and removing phlegm. Honey-fried licorice has effects in nourishing the spleen and stomach and replenishing Qi and pulse. Because traditional Chinese medicine exerts the effects through multiple components and multiple targets, the index components used in the quality evaluation of licorice are often difficult to reflect their real quality. In addition, most of studies for the quality standards have shown that honey-fried licorice are the same as licorice, with a lack of quality evaluation standards that can demonstrate their processing characteristics. The quality of medicine is directly related to its clinical efficacy, so it is necessary to establish a more effective quality control method. Licorice has a beany smell, which is one of the main quality identification characteristics. In this study, by taking advantage of the odor characteristics, a headspace-gas chromatography-ion migration mass spectrometry technology was used to establish a quality evaluation method. A total of 76 volatile components were identified. Through the dynamic principal component analysis, 7 kinds of volatile substances in raw licorice and 13 kinds of volatile substances in honey-fried licorice were statistically obtained, and could be taken as index components for the quality evaluation of raw and honey-fried licorice, respectively. This study could help realize the combination and unification of modern detection and traditional quality evaluation methods, and make a more realistic evaluation for the quality of licorice.
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Glycyrrhiza ; Honey ; analysis ; Ion Mobility Spectrometry ; Volatile Organic Compounds ; analysis

Licorice has long been regarded as one of the most popular herbs, with a very wide clinical application range. Whether being used alone or as an ingredient in prescription, it has an important role which cannot be ignored. However, the efficacy and chemical constituents of licorice will change after honey-processing. Therefore, it is necessary to find quality markers before and after honey-processing to lay the foundation for a comprehensive evaluation of the differences between raw and processed licorice pieces. HPLC-DAD was employed to establish fingerprints of raw and processed licorice. Multivariate statistical analysis methods including principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis(OPLS-DA) were applied to screen out the differential components before and after processing of licorice. Based on network pharmacology, the targets and pathways corresponding to the differential components were analyzed with databases such as Swiss Target Prediction and Metascape, and the "component-target-pathway" diagram was constructed with Cytoscape 3.6.0 software to predict the potential quality markers. A total of 17 common peaks were successfully identified in the established fingerprint, and seven differential components were selected as potential quality markers(licoricesaponin G2, glycyrrhizic acid, liquiritigenin, liquiritin, isoliquiritin, liquiritin apioside and isoliquiritigenin). The HPLC fingerprint method proposed in this study was efficient and feasible. The above seven differential chemical components screened out as potential quality markers of licorice can help to improve and promote the overall quality. These researches offer more sufficient theoretical basis for scientific application of licorice and its corresponding products.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Glycyrrhiza ; Glycyrrhizic Acid/analysis* ; Honey/analysis*

Indeed, medicinal importance of honey has been documented in the world's oldest medical literatures, and since the ancient times, it has been known to possess antimicrobial property as well as wound-healing activity. The healing property of honey is due to the fact that it offers antibacterial activity, maintains a moist wound condition, and its high viscosity helps to provide a protective barrier to prevent infection. Its immunomodulatory property is relevant to wound repair too. The antimicrobial activity in most honeys is due to the enzymatic production of hydrogen peroxide. However, another kind of honey, called non-peroxide honey (viz., manuka honey), displays significant antibacterial effects even when the hydrogen peroxide activity is blocked. Its mechanism may be related to the low pH level of honey and its high sugar content (high osmolarity) that is enough to hinder the growth of microbes. The medical grade honeys have potent in vitro bactericidal activity against antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing several life-threatening infections to humans. But, there is a large variation in the antimicrobial activity of some natural honeys, which is due to spatial and temporal variation in sources of nectar. Thus, identification and characterization of the active principle(s) may provide valuable information on the quality and possible therapeutic potential of honeys (against several health disorders of humans), and hence we discussed the medicinal property of honeys with emphasis on their antibacterial activities.
Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Bacteria ; drug effects ; Honey ; analysis ; classification ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo apply the near infrared spectroscopy in quality control for excipients of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

METHODA new type of transmittance and reflectance integration sphere accessory and a transmittance accessory were used to collect the spectra of processed honey and rice wine, respectively. Determination method of reducing sugar and ethanol in processed honey were established with partial least squares (PLS).

RESULTThe correlation coefficients (r), the root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of the proposed models were 0.9593, 1.00% and 1.19% for reducing sugar; 0.9529, 0.17% and 0.24% for ethanol.

CONCLUSIONThe proposed method is fast, non-destructive, simple and accurate, and can be applied to at-spot detection,

Excipients ; chemistry ; Honey ; analysis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Oryza ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared ; methods ; Wine ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo establish the HPLC fingerprint of the pieces of honey-fried Radix Glycyrrhizae.

METHODUsing the reverse-performance liquid chromatography, method was performed on a Hyperclone ODS C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) and acetonitrile-0.1% phosphoric acid was selected as mobile phase gradient elution were adopted.

RESULTEstablished HPLC fingerprint of Radix et Rhizoma glycyrrhizae pieces were established, and the results of methodological study met the technical requirements for fingerprinting.

CONCLUSIONThe HPLC method is stable, accurate, and reliable to provide a scientific basis of quality control standard for the honey-fried Radix et Rhizoma glycyrrhizae.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Food Handling ; standards ; Glycyrrhiza ; chemistry ; classification ; Honey ; analysis ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; Quality Control

To establish a content determination method for quality control of the pieces and standard decoction of honey-fried Descurainiae Semen. Standard decoction of honey-fried Descurainiae Semen was prepared with standardized process, and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detector(HPLC-DAD) was used to detect its characteristic fingerprint and determine the content of quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucose-7-O-β-D-gentiobioside. In addition, the transfer rate, dry extract rate and pH value were calculated. The results showed that the established method had a high accuracy. The content of quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucose-7-O-β-D-gentiobioside in 13 batches of standard decoction was 0.03-0.12 mg·mL~(-1); the transfer rate was 13.4%-23.1%; the rate of extracts was 1.9%-5.5%, and the pH was between 5.4-5.9. The similarity coefficients were all greater than 0.85, indicating good homogeneity for the different batches of decoction. There were 7 common peaks in the characteristic chromatogram, one of which was quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucose-7-O-β-D-gentiobioside. In this paper, the established content determination and quality evaluation method for Descurainiae Semen pieces and decoction was simple, rapid and reproducible, providing reference for the quality control of honey-fried Descurainiae Semen pieces, standard decoction and its preparations.
Brassicaceae/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/standards* ; Glucosides/analysis* ; Honey ; Quality Control ; Quercetin/analogs & derivatives*

OBJECTIVEUsing pharmacokinetics to explore the mechanism of honey to enhance the efficacy of acyclovir (ACV) treatment of herpes simplex keratitis (HSK), providing the basis for combination of the prescription of two drugs and dosage regimen designed.

METHODSingle dosages of 5% honey and 0% honey Meyasu eye ointment are injected into rabbit eyes. The aqueous humor of rabbit eye is measured at different times, specifically the content of ACV in aqueous humor by HPLC. Mathematical models are established, from which pharmacokinetic parameters are extracted and compared by mathematics and statistics methods.

RESULTBoth the 5% and 0% honey Meyasu eye ointment in rabbit eyes are belong to a two-compartment model. The absorption half-life of the 5% Meyasu eye ointment in aqueous humor is as 2.30 times longer, the distribution half-life is 2.12 times longer, the peak concentration is 1.17 times longer, the peak time is 1.36 times longer, AUC is 1.41 times longer when compared to the 0% Meyasu eye ointment.

CONCLUSIONHoney can significantly increase the ACV concentration and bioavailability in the eye, extend the action time of ACV in target cells and increase the retention capacity of ACV in the target tissue; thereby improving treatment success.

Acyclovir ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Antiviral Agents ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Disease Models, Animal ; Eye ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Female ; Honey ; analysis ; Humans ; Keratitis, Herpetic ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Male ; Rabbits