Optimisation of a Method Based on Spectrophotometric Determination of Total Triterpenes in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Spectrophotometric methods have been widely used in the determination of total triterpenes in traditional Chinese medicines due to their ease of operation, short time duration, and the absence of the need for all controls of the tested components. However, many of the existing methods directly analyse the extracts of traditional Chinese medicines for the determination of total triterpenoids, without exploring whether other chemical components in traditional Chinese medicines interfere with the determination and whether they need to be decontaminated. In order to address this problem, the researchers chose liquorice and hawthorn leaves as the subjects for the study, and identified the optimal colourimetric system for liquorice and hawthorn leaves by comparing the differences of four methods, namely, sulfuric acid, vanillin-sulfuric acid, perchloric acid and vanillin-perchloric acid methods. At the same time, it was also investigated whether the total extracts of the herbs without decontamination treatment would have any effect on the results of total triterpene content determination. The experimental data clearly showed that the determined content of total triterpenes in the total extracts without decontamination treatment was significantly higher than that in the extracts with decontamination treatment. Therefore, for the determination of specific components in traditional Chinese medicine, it is necessary to explore the methods to remove the interfering substances, and at the same time to find the optimal colourimetric system according to the material to ensure the accuracy of the content determination. This study provides scientific support for the determination of target components in traditional Chinese medicine and helps to improve the accuracy of the determination. The practical significance of this study will not only be reflected in the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, but will also have a profound impact on the traditional Chinese medicine industry, the pharmaceutical field and public health.