New Monitoring Strategy for the Quality Control in the Processing Practice of Scutellariae Radix

Background: Scutellariae Radix (Huangqin) is commonly processed into 3 products for different clinical applications. However, a simple analytical method for quality control has rarely been reported to quickly estimate the degree of processing Huangqin or distinguish differently processed products or unqualified Huangqin products. Objective: To study a new strategy for quality control in the processing practice of Huangqin. Methods: Seven kinds of flavonoids that mainly exist in Huangqin were determined by HPLC-DAD. Chromatographic fingerprints were established to study the variation and discipline of the 3 processed products of Huangqin. PCA and OPLS-DA were used to classify differently processed products of Huangqin. Results: The results showed that baicalin and wogonoside were the main components in the crude and the alcohol Huangqin herb while baicalein and wogonin mainly existed in carbonized Huangqin. The results of mathematical statistics revealed that the processing techniques can make the quality of medicinal materials more uniform. Conclusion: This multivariate monitoring strategy is suitable for quality control in the processing of Huangqin.