This study was carried out to investigate the residual sulfur dioxide residues (SO2) in commercial medicinal herbs in Korea in 2013. Among a total of 116 samples of 11 different kinds of herbs, 71 samples (11 Kinds) were domestic, and 45 samples (10 Kinds) were imported. The residual contents of SO2 in the samples were determinated by a modified Monier-Williams method. Of the 116 samples, 6 samples (5.2%, 4 Kinds) failed to meet the regulations for sulfur dioxide residues of KFDA in medicinal herbs. Among 6 unsuitable samples, 1 samples (1.4%) were domestic, and 5 samples (11.1%, 3 Kinds) were imported. The highest amount of sulfur dioxide residues was 1546.3 mg/kg (Lycii Fructus) in the domestic samples. Regardless of region, SO2 contents were not found at Anemarrhenae Rhizoma, Citri Unshius Pericarpium, Eucommiae Cortex, Forsythiae Fructus, Gardeniae Fructus, Leonuri Herba and Lonicerae Folium et caulis. These data will be used as a basic data for the future legislation on the regulation and control of sulfur dioxide of herbal medicines.

The Ponciri fructus immaturus (Poncirus trifoliata Rafinesque) has been used in oriental medicine for uterinecontraction, stomachache, abdominal distension and cardiovascular diseases. Two main compounds, poncirin and naringinwere successfully analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and carried out method validation accordingto ICH guideline. A successful resolution and retention times were obtained with a C18 reversed phase column, at an 1㎖min−¹ flow rate, with a gradient elution of a mixture of methanol, water and acetonitrile. Poncirin and naringin showed goodlinearity (R²>0.999) in relatively wide concentration ranged. The recovery of each compound was 95.81~101.48% withR.S.D. values less than 1.0%. The application of ultrasound-assisted extraction was shown to be more efficient in extractingponcirin and naringin from Ponciri fructus immaturus. The predicted optimal poncirin and naringin yield were poncirin2.15%, naringin 1.65% under an extraction temperature of 40℃, an extraction time of 10 min in a solvent of 70% methanol.

This study was conducted to investigate the residual contents of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in commercial medicinal herbs in Korea in 2012. Among a total of 136 samples of 16 different kinds of herbs, 86 samples (15 Kinds) were domestic, and 50 samples (14 Kinds) were imported. Sulfur dioxide in the samples was measured by a modified Monier-Williams method. Of the 136 samples, 17 samples (12.5%, 6 Kinds) failed to meet the regulations for sulfur dioxide residues of KFDA in medicinal herbs. Among 17 unsuitable samples, 7 samples (8.1%, 3 Kinds) were domestic, and 10 samples (20.0%, 6 Kinds) were imported. The highest amount of sulfur dioxide residues was 3,167.94 mg/kg (Lycii Fructus) in the domestic samples. The detection frequency of sulfur dioxide by medicinal herb parts used, Rhizoma 25.7%, Flos 20.0%. Cortex 12.5%, Radix 15.3%, Fructus 7.6%, p-value 0.011. This results will be used as a basic data for the future legislation on the quality estimation and safety of medicinal herbs.

This study was conducted to determine the contents of heavy metal in commercial herbal medicines. The monitoring of lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury was carried out on 100 samples with 10 kinds of herbal medicines. The contents of heavy metal were measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and mercury analyzer. The mean values of heavy metal contents for herbal medicines were Pb 1.87 mg/kg, As 0.39 mg/kg, Cd 0.26 mg/kg and Hg 0.021 mg/kg. Of the total samples, 19 samples (19%, 4 types) were violated the KFDA regulatory guidance of heavy metal in herbal medicines (9 samples on Pb, 10 samples on Cd). Among these 19 unsuitable samples, 16 samples were domestic and 3 samples were imported. Therefore, we need continuously monitoring to ensure confidence and safety for these herbal medicines.

Poncirus trifoliata Rafinesque has been used as the immature fruit of the trifoliate orange tree. This study was carried out to investigate the quality change of Poncirus trifoliata Rafinesque depending on packing materials (vacuum packing, PP (polypropylene) packing, gunny sack packing), storage places and storage periods up to 12 months. The change of loss on drying content, content of poncirin were measured during the 12 months. As a result, the loss on drying content was decreased rapidly in gunny sack packing after storage of 12 months at room temperature. The content of poncirin was decreased generally according to storage conditions and its average loss percent was 38.8%.

This study was investigated that quality inspection of distributed Scutellariae Radix in Korea. To evaluate the quality of these herbal medicines, we carried out TLC pattern, foreign matter in purity, loss on drying, ash, acid-insoluble ash, oil content, dilute ethanol-soluble, water-soluble, ether-soluble extracts contents, quantitative analyses, residual SO2, individual heavy metals and organochlorine pesticides. To measure contents of baicalin, baicalein and wogonin, we were quantitative analyzed using HPLC. The average contents of baicalin, baicalein and wogonin were detected by 13.28 (±0.43)%, 1.17 (±0.04)% and 0.40 (±0.02)%, respectively. Each average contents As, Cd, Hg and Pb was 0.059 (±0.054) mg · kg-1, 0.019 (±0.010) mg · kg-1, 0.017 (±0.057) ppm and 0.242 (±0.084) mg · kg-1, respectively.