Objective:

2

Taking electronic-eye (visual analyzer) technique

based on the powder color of Andrographis Herba

to investigate the applicability of electronic-eye technique and evaluate the quality of Andrographis Herba with different commercial specifications.

Method:

2

HPLC was employed to determine contents of andrographolide

dehydroandrographolide

14-deoxyandrographolide

neoandrographolide in 50 batches of Andrographis Herba with different commercial specifications(stems

leaves and aerial parts). Color of these samples were measured by electronic-eye technique.The data were analyzed by principal component analysis(PCA) and Pearson correlation analysis.The ability of electronic-eye to distinguish the different commercial specifications of Andrographis Herba was investigated and the correlation of chroma space system parameters (

L

*

a

*

b

*

) with active components was investigated.

Result:

2

There was remarkable difference in contents of 4 diterpenoids in Andrographis Herba from different parts

their contents in leaves was the highest

followed by the aerial parts(mixture of stems and leaves)

and their contents in stems was the lowest.The results of PCA was divided into two classes

namely the stem part

leaf and aerial parts

indicating that electronic-eye could be used to distinguish the quality of Andrographis Herba.The correlation results showed that there were significant negative correlation(

P

<

0.01) between

L

*

(lightness value) and the contents of andrographolide

dehydroandrographolide

14-deoxyandrographolide

neoandrographolide and the total content of these 4 components.In addition

L

*

of samples that did not conform to the lower limit of determination in the 2015 edition of

Chinese Pharmacopeia

was≥69.5

and the

L

*

of more than 90% of the samples in accordance with the requirements was

<

69.5.

Conclusion:

2

Electronic-eye technique provides a new method and idea for the quality evaluation of Andrographis Herba.