ObjectiveTo conduct a comparative quality analysis of Inulae Flos， fuzz of Inulae Flos and calyx of Inulae Flos， elucidating the scientific connotation of the "removing calyx" process in the traditional processing of Inulae Flos. MethodsInulae Flos decoction pieces were collected， and the fuzz and calyx of Inulae Flos were prepared according to the experiences of old medicine workers. Subsequently， according to the methods under the "Inulae Flos" item in the 2025 edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China， the appearance characteristics and thin-layer chromatography（TLC） identification of these samples were tested， and the moisture content， total ash content， extract content were also measured. The characteristic fingerprint patterns of Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos were established by high-performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）， followed by similarity evaluation， principal component analysis（PCA）， and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA）. The contents of cryptochlorogenic acid， caffeic acid， 1，3-O-dicaffeoylqunic acid， 1，5-O-dicaffeoylqunic acid， and 1-O-acetyl britannilactone were determined to compare the quality differences of Inulae Flos， fuzz of Inulae Flos， and calyx of Inulae Flos. ResultsThe moisture content of Inulae Flos， fuzz of Inulae Flos， and calyx of Inulae Flos was all<10%. The determination results of total ash content were as follows：Calyx of Inulae Flos>Inulae Flos>fuzz of Inulae Flos， and the determination results of alcohol-soluble extract content were as follows：Fuzz of Inulae Flos>Inulae Flos>calyx of Inulae Flos. HPLC fingerprint patterns of Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos were established， and 22 common peaks were identified. The similarity analysis and PCA showed that the overall quality of Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos was similar， while the overall quality of calyx of Inulae Flos differed significantly from that of Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos. PLS-DA results showed that Inulae Flos， fuzz of Inulae Flos， and calyx of Inulae Flos clustered into distinct groups， indicating significant differences among them. Cryptochlorogenic acid and caffeic acid had relatively high contents in calyx of Inulae Flos， the contents of 1，3-O-dicaffeoylqunic acid and 1，5-O-dicaffeoylqunic acid in Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos were higher than those in calyx of Inulae Flos. The order of 1-O-acetyl britannilactone content was determined as follows：fuzz of Inulae Flos>Inulae Flos>calyx of Inulae Flos. ConclusionThe scientific nature of "Removing Calyx" process in the cleansing of Inulae Flos by old medicine workers is demonstrated by the resulting fuzz of Inulae Flos decoction pieces exhibiting enhanced cleanliness and higher content of the index component 1-O-acetyl britannilactone. This study provides a reference basis for further improving and enhancing the processing method and quality control standards of Inulae Flos.

Taste is a sensation produced by the reaction of substances in the mouth with taste receptor cells， and a normal taste function is essential for our daily life and health. As receivers of taste molecules， taste receptors include sour， bitter， sweet， salty， and umami receptors， which are mainly distributed in the oral cavity， gastrointestinal tract， respiratory tract epithelium and other organs and play a physiological role. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has five flavors （sour， bitter， sweet， pungent， and salty）， which are closely related to the efficacy. Except the pungent flavor and umami taste receptors， the other five taste receptors correspond to the five flavors in the TCM theory， while the correlations between them have not been studied， such as those between bitter receptors and bitter TCM and between sweet receptors and sweet TCM. This article reviews the research reports on taste receptors in recent years. By analyzing the relationships of taste receptors with five flavors of TCM， signaling mechanisms， and diseases based on "receptor-TCM" correlations， this article puts forward the possibility of combining the TCM theory of five flavors with modern biomedical research， providing a reference for the research on "flavors" in TCM and the correlations between TCM and taste receptors.

Taste is a sensation produced by the reaction of substances in the mouth with taste receptor cells， and a normal taste function is essential for our daily life and health. As receivers of taste molecules， taste receptors include sour， bitter， sweet， salty， and umami receptors， which are mainly distributed in the oral cavity， gastrointestinal tract， respiratory tract epithelium and other organs and play a physiological role. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has five flavors （sour， bitter， sweet， pungent， and salty）， which are closely related to the efficacy. Except the pungent flavor and umami taste receptors， the other five taste receptors correspond to the five flavors in the TCM theory， while the correlations between them have not been studied， such as those between bitter receptors and bitter TCM and between sweet receptors and sweet TCM. This article reviews the research reports on taste receptors in recent years. By analyzing the relationships of taste receptors with five flavors of TCM， signaling mechanisms， and diseases based on "receptor-TCM" correlations， this article puts forward the possibility of combining the TCM theory of five flavors with modern biomedical research， providing a reference for the research on "flavors" in TCM and the correlations between TCM and taste receptors.

The Maillard reaction is a complex process in which amine compounds such as amino acids， peptides， and proteins undergo condensation， polymerization， and other reactions with carbonyl compounds such as reducing sugars， ketones， and aldehydes at room temperature or under heating conditions， ultimately producing substances such as melanoidins and aromatic compounds. The processing of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） often involves heating and the addition of auxiliary materials， providing complete conditions for the occurrence of the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is affected by various factors such as temperature， pH， moisture， substrate， reaction time and pressure， the progress of the reaction also affected by different processing technologies of TCM and the addition of different excipients. The Maillard reaction involves multiple substances， most of which have significant physiological activity or toxicity， affecting the efficacy and pharmacological effects of TCM. It can also produce various flavor substances and browning products that change the flavor and color of TCM. The Maillard reaction mechanism， influencing factors， related components， and the impact of Maillard reaction on various aspects of TCM processing are reviewed from multiple perspectives in this article， providing reference for the further improvement of processing mechanism and quality control of TCM.

OBJECTIVE To provide a reference for the quality control of Hypericum perforatum. METHODS High- performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） was used to establish fingerprints for 20 batches of H. perforatum and determine the contents of its main components： chlorogenic acid， rutin， hyperin， isoquercitrin， avicularin， quercitrin and quercetin. Cluster analysis was conducted using SPSS 26.0 software. The chromaticity values （luminance value L*， red-green value a*， and yellow- blue value b*） of H. perforatum powder were measured using electronic eye. A prediction model for the contents of seven components in H. perforatum based on its appearance chromaticity values was established using machine learning algorithms. The predictive performance of the models was evaluated using root-mean-square-error （RMSE）. RESULTS A total of 16 common peaks were calibrated in the fingerprints of 20 batches of H. perforatum， and 9 peaks were identified， which were chlorogenic acid， rutin， hyperin， isoquercitrin， avicularin， quercitrin， quercetin， hypericin and hyperforin； the similarities of the 20 batches of samples and reference fingerprint ranged from 0.889-0.987. The contents of chlorogenic acid， rutin， hyperin， isoquercitrin， avicularin， quercitrin and quercetin were 0.025%-0.166%， 0.048%-0.339%， 0.082%-0.419%， 0.017%-0.209%， 0.011%-0.134%， 0.020%-0.135%， 0.041%-0.235%， respectively. Cluster analysis results showed that 18 batches of qualified H. perforatum were grouped into three categories， when the Euclidean distance was set to 1.4. L* of the 20 batches of H. perforatum ranged from 62.814 to 75.668， a* ranged from 1.409 to 3.490， and b* ranged from 25.249 to 30.759. RMSE of three prediction models， namely XGBoost， LightGBM， and AdaBoost， ranged from 0.008 to 0.070， indicating good fitting performance. XGBoost model predicted the contents of the other six components with high accuracy， except for rutin. CONCLUSIONS The established fingerprints and content determination methods are accurate， reproducible， and reliable. The content prediction model based on appearance chromaticity values， combined with machine learning algorithms， can be used for the quality control of H. perforatum.

ObjectiveTo compare the quality of two kinds of honey-processed Lilii Bulbus（HPLB） prepared by empirical and pharmacopoeial methods based on chemical analysis and intelligent sensory technology， and to improve and upgrade the quality standard of HPLB on the basis of excavating and inheriting the traditional experience of famous experts in traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）. MethodSamples of HPLB were prepared according to the method in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia（honey was added before frying） and the empirical method of the old pharmacists（honey was added after frying）， and the appearance characteristics， thin layer chromatography（TLC） identification， inspection， leachables and other items of the two kinds of samples were detected according to the methods under the Lilii Bulbus in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The fingerprints of HPLB with different honey addition methods were established by high performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）， and the contents of regaloside A， regaloside B and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural（5-HMF） were determined， the quality difference between the two HPLB samples was evaluated by multivariate statistical analysis. Meanwhile， electronic nose and electronic tongue were used to measure the sense of smell and taste， and combined with multivariate statistical analysis， the difference sensors were screened with the variable importance in the projection（VIP） value>1 in order to compare the differences between the two kinds of HPLB. ResultCompared with HPLB prepared by the pharmacopoeial method， the sample prepared by the empirical method had lower water content， slightly higher soluble extract content， better appearance and easy storage. HPLC fingerprints of two kinds of HPLB samples were established， and the similarity between them was≥0.999， indicating that the composition of two species was similar. And 29 common peaks were calibrated， among which peaks 8 and 18 were regaloside A and regaloside B. The quantitative analysis of the index components in the two kinds of HPLB samples showed that the difference in the contents of regaloside A and regaloside B was not statistically significant， whereas the content of 5-HMF in empirical HPLB was significantly higher than that of the pharmacopoeial HPLB（P<0.01）. The electronic tongue and electronic nose test results showed that the umami， umami richness and saltiness of the empirical HPLB were higher than those of the pharmacopoeial HPLB. The results of electronic nose detection showed that the four sensors W1W， W2S， W5S and W1S were the differential odor sensors of the two samples， among which the response values of W1S and W2S sensors were higher than those of the pharmacopoeial HPLB， which might be related to the content of 5-HMF. ConclusionCompared with the pharmacopoeial HPLB， the empirical sample is of better quality， but the two can be clearly distinguished by electronic nose and electronic tongue， which can provide a reference for excavating and inheriting the traditional experience of famous experts in TCM and further improving the processing methods and quality standards of HPLB.

OBJECTIVE To explore the changes in chemical compositions and the characteristics of “fried charcoal and saving properties” based on the carbon-frying process of Sophora japonica and its bud. METHODS The slightly， moderately and heavily carbon-fried samples of S. japonica and its bud were prepared. The fingerprints of S. japonica， its bud and carbon-fried samples were established， and common peaks were identified. HPLC method was used to determine the contents of identified components and differential analysis was also performed； the differential components were screened by using chemometric methods， and their content ratios were used to characterize the “fried charcoal and saving properties” of S. japonica and its bud. RESULTS There were 9 common peaks in the fingerprints of S. japonica and its carbon-fried samples， 8 common peaks in those of S. japonica bud and its carbon-fried samples. In the fingerprints of S. japonica and its bud， and their different fried products， 6 components were identified， such as rutin， kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside， isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside， quercetin， kaempferol，isorhamnetin. Among them， the contents of rutin， kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside and isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside were the highest in slightly carbon-fried samples of S. japonica bud， and the contents of quercetin and isorhamnetin were the highest in moderately carbon-fried samples of S. japonica bud， and the contents of kaempferol were higher in moderately and healily carbon-fried samples of S. japonica bud. The chemometric results showed that the variable importance projection values of rutin and quercetin were both greater than 1. The range of rutin-quercetin content ratio between 9.00-14.00 and 3.00-6.00 respectively could characterize “fried charcoal and saving properties” of S. japonica and its bud. CONCLUSIONS There are significant differences in the chemical compositions of raw and fried products of S. japonica and its bud. Rutin and quercetin may be the differential components that affect their quality， and the ratio range of the two can be used to characterize the “fried charcoal and saving properties” of S. japonica and its bud in the future.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the variations in taste， aroma and volatile organic compounds of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces derived from different sources， and to identify their origins. METHODS The flavor， odor and volatile organic compounds of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces from different sources were compared and analyzed by using electronic tongue， electronic nose， and gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry （GC-IMS）. Principal component analysis （PCA）， partial least squares-discriminant analysis （PLS-DA）， orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA） and Fisher discriminant analysis were employed to identify the origins of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces and establish the basis discrimination criteria. RESULTS The differences in taste of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces from 3 origins were primarily characterized by bitterness， astringency， and bitter-astringent aftertaste. In terms of smell， variations were mainly observed in inorganic sulfides， organic sulfides containing aromatic components， methane and other short-chain alkanes， alcohols， ethers， aldehydes and ketones， as well as nitrogen oxides. Differentially volatile organic compounds mainly consisted of alcohols， aldehydes and ketones. Furthermore， the samples from 8 batches could be effectively classified into 3 categories.Three types of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces can be effectivily identified based on the peak intensity ratio between volatile substances. For example， when the peak intensity of 2-acetylfuran was 3-19 times that of isobutyric acid [dimer]， it was considered as Rheum officinale Baill. CONCLUSIONS The discriminant models established in this study， along with the criteria for determining the origins based on the peak intensity ofcharacteristic volatile compounds， can be utilized for the identification of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces.

ObjectiveTo investigate the quality of Amomi Fructus in the market， and to compare the difference between the seed mass and shell， so as to provide a basis for standardizing the usage of Amomi Fructus. MethodThe properties， thin layer identification， moisture， the content of bornyl acetate were determined by the methods in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， and the ash and extract content were determined according to the collection method of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. ResultAmong the 17 batches of samples， except the content of bornyl acetate in 2 batches of Amomum longiligulare， 2 batches of A. longiligulare and A. villosum mixture was lower than the standard， the quality of other samples all met the standard of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， but there were two specifications with shell and without shell. The husk rate， volatile oil， extract and bornyl acetate contents of the seed mass and shell were tested. It was found that the content of volatile oil in three kinds of Amomi Fructus seed mass was 1.8-5.3 times that of the corresponding shell， and the content of bornyl acetate in the seed mass was 8.8-62.1 times that of the corresponding shell， but there was little difference in the extract content. ConclusionBased on the above research， it is considered that the content of bornyl acetate in A. longiligulare contained in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia remains to be discussed. It is tentatively determined that the total ash content of Amomi Fructus should not be more than 10.0%， and the extract content should not be less than 15.0%. At the same time， it is suggested that when Amomi Fructus is used as medicine， the dosage of Amomi Fructus should be calculated according to the removal rate of 20%-30% of shell， and it should be crushed regardless of whether it is used in shell or not.

ObjectiveTo investigate the quality of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus in the market， and the moisture， extract， determination of Zhuyao and Douchi Ligustri Lucidi Fructus were compared to increase the utilization rate of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus. MethodThe properties， moisture， total ash， alcohol-soluble extract content and thin layer chromatography （TLC） identification were determined by the methods of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus included in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， and high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） fingerprint and determination of specnuezhenide and salidroside were established with the mobile phase of 0.2% phosphoric acid aqueous solution （A）-acetonitrile （B） （0-70 min， 92%-65%A） for gradient elution， and the detection wavelength of 220 nm at 0-14 min and 225 nm at 14-70 min. The two different characters of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus were comprehensively compared by the above indicators. ResultExcept for one batch which did not meet the requirements due to the quality of harvesting， the other 12 batches of samples all met the requirements of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， but there were two different characters. Comparing the two different characters of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus， it is found that the moisture， total ash， extract， salidroside and specnuezhenide contents of Zhuyao samples were 2.22%-5.19%， 3.91%-4.49%， 32.56%-40.95%， 0.073%-0.170% and 1.45%-4.14%， and these values of Douchi samples were 3.57%-5.61%， 3.65%-4.44%， 41.31%-46.70%， 0.041%-0.067% and 3.01%-4.20%， respectively. ConclusionThe contents of extract and specnuezhenide of Douchi Ligustri Lucidi Fructus are mostly higher than those of Zhuyao Ligustri Lucidi Fructus， while the content of salidroside is lower than that of Zhuyao samples， and there are no significant differences in moisture， TLC identification and total ash content. Based on the above research， if the main purpose is to extract salidroside， it is recommended to choose Zhuyao Ligustri Lucidi Fructus. If the main purpose is to use Ligustri Lucidi Fructus as medicine， it is recommended to choose Douchi Ligustri Lucidi Fructus.