Study on the Influence of Sulfur Fumigation on Chemical Constituents of Angelicae dahurica Radix (Baizhi)

Purpose: To study the influence of different sulfur fumigation time and dosage on the chemical constituents of Baizhi Angelicae dahurica Radix).
Methods: The relationship of chemical constituents in Baizhi with different sulfur fumigation time and dosages was evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint and chemometrics methods, including similarity analysis (SA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). HPLC was carried out on a Diamonil C18 column; linear gradient elution was performed with acetonitrile and water; column temperature, injection volume of sample, flow rate, detection wavelength and testing time were 30 °C, 20 μL, 1 mL/min, 310 nm and 75 min respectively.
Results: The chemical constituents of Baizhi significantly (p < 0.05) decreased after sulfur fumigation though sulfur fumigation time and dosage were at low levels – 2 h and 25 g (sulphur)/10 kg (Baizhi), respectively.
Conclusion: Sulfur fumigation is not a desirable method for field processing of Baizhi even when sulfur fumigation time and dosage were short and small.

Keywords
Baizhi; Angelicae dahurica; Sulfur fumigation; HPLC-DAD; Fingerprint; Chemometrics methods