“Traditional Chinese medicine is a unique cultural heritage in China. The intersectional integration of cutting-edge technology and ancient cultural heritage is the innovation point of our research group.” Modern science and technology promotes the innovation and development of traditional Chinese medicine. Professor Cao Jun of Hangzhou Normal University is a famous ionized liquid “designer” with classical temperament but walking at the forefront of scientific research.
Last year, the research project of Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation of China “New Method of Ionic liquid Technology Mediated Chinese Medicine Quality Control” completed by Dr. Cao Jun was officially concluded. This project studied the “green pharmaceutical” method, and designed the corresponding extraction ionic according to the characteristics of different Chinese medicine to extract the main active ingredients in Chinese medicine, which is expected to push the quality control method of Chinese medicine to high efficiency and environmental protection. The project conclusion was excellent, and he has published more than 30 SCI papers, applied for 5 national invention patents, and won 1 provincial science and technology award.
Compared with traditional Chinese medicine extraction, it is more harmless, highly efficient and environmentally friendly
The ancients said, “grass”, Chinese medicine to botanical medicine. For a long time, choosing to drink traditional Chinese medicine means that you need to go to the hospital to open up the bags of traditional Chinese medicine medicinal materials to take home, fry, fry and cook all day, the high price.
With the development of science and technology, in order to remove the tedious steps and extracting active ingredients in Chinese medicine, Cao Jun told reporters, there are many Chinese medicine extraction technology on the market, the most common is to take ethanol, methanol, chloroform, acetone, and other organic chemical solvents, according to the nature of the active ingredients in Chinese herbal medicine solubility, will need the active ingredients dissolved from medicinal materials tissue, so that the internal quality of Chinese medicine and clinical treatment effect is improved.
But at the same time, this traditional extraction method still has many disadvantages. If some chemical solvents are volatile and corrosive, it is harmful to human health when entering the atmosphere; the residue of organic solvents into the land can pollute the environment; and the long-term use will also affect the health of operators.
Cao Jun said: ” The biggest advantage of ionic liquid reagents is that they are non-toxic, pollution-free, neither volatile or flammable, and are stable. It is a ‘green liquid’. More than that, during the ‘small trial’ process, our new method is at least ten times more efficient than the traditional method.”
It is reported that changing the composition and structure of ionic liquid is a hot field of international research, but the research group led by Professor Cao Jun is the “pioneer” of innovation.
More than one hundred ionic liquids have been designed and formed
Each Chinese medicine ingredient will have a corresponding extraction ionic. So far, more than 100 kinds of ionic solutions, including ginsenosides, flavonoids in chrysanthemum, iodide in kunbu, and phenolic compounds in propolis, have been born in Professor Cao’s laboratory.
It is reported that Hangzhou Normal University is setting up a special ionic liquid extraction production line, and this green pharmaceutical method can be industrialized in a year or so. In addition, the research teams of the University of Michigan, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and some pharmaceutical enterprises have offered olive branches after seeing the research results, hoping to further cooperate with Hangzhou Normal University to carry out in-depth research and industrialization of TCM ionic liquid extraction technology.
The “first bucket of gold” for young researchers
Cao Jun received his doctor’s degree from a Chinese pharmaceutical student in 2009 and came to work at Hangzhou Normal University in 2011. Professor Cao, a former pharmaceutical student, believes that traditional Chinese medicine is a precious cultural heritage in China. Although ancient, it has never stopped moving forward. On July 1,2017, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Traditional Chinese Medicine officially came into force, which means that the development of traditional Chinese medicine has ushered in a new opportunity. He used an interesting technique to control the quality of traditional Chinese medicine.
The support of the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province is the “first bucket of gold” that Teacher Cao Jun started out in scientific research. For young researchers, the “first bucket of gold” means opening up the faith and confidence in scientific research.
According to Cao jun, the research group has 15 researchers, and the project has been going on for nearly five years. In the process has encountered a variety of difficulties, ” some ionic liquid synthesis will appear unstable state, but can not think of a solution can only put a first, go to other laboratories to see or seek advice from peers. Fortunately, they were still relatively satisfactory results.”
At present, the “design” work on the extraction of TCM ionic liquid is still continuing, and the related projects have been approved for funding by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
(Source: Zhejiang Online)