Alpinia Officinarum Rhizome
Alpiniae Officinari Rhizoma
Alpinia Officinarum Rhizome is the rhizome of Alpinia officinarum Hance (Zingiberaceae).
Description:
Alpinia Officinarum Rhizome is a slightly curved and cylindrical rhizome, sometimes branched; 2.8 cmin length, 6 . 15 mmin diameter; externally red-brown to dark brown with fine striped lines, grayish white nodes and several traces of rootlet; hard to break; fracture surface, light brown in color and thickness of cortex is approximately the same as that of stele.
Odor, characteristic; taste, extremely pungent.
Under a microscope, transverse section reveals epidermal cells often containing resin-like substances; cortex, endodermis and stele present beneath the epidermis; cortex and stele divided by endodermis; vascular bundles surrounded by fibers, scattered throughout the cortex and stele, cortex and stele composed of parenchyma interspersed with oil cells; parenchymatous cells containing solitary crystals of calcium oxalate and starch grains, starch grains generally simple (sometimes 2- to 8-compound), ovate, oblong or narrowly ovate, 10 . 40 mm in diameter and with an eccentric navel.
Identification:
To 0.5 g of pulverized Alpinia Officinarum Rhizome add 5 mL of acetone, shake for 5 minutes, and filter. Perform the test with the filtrate as directed under Thin-layer Chromatography <2.03>. Spot 5 mL of the filtrate on a plate of silica gel for thin-layer chromatography, develop the plate with a mixture of cyclohexane, ethyl acetate and acetic acid (100) (12:8:1) to a distance of about 10 cm, and air-dry the plate: two yellow-brown spots appear at an Rf value between 0.4 and 0.5.
Purity:
(1) Heavy metals. Proceed with 3.0 g of pulverized Alpinia Officinarum Rhizome according to Method 3, and perform the test. Prepare the control solution with 3.0 mL of Standard Lead Solution (not more than 10 ppm).
(2) Arsenic. Prepare the test solution with 0.40 g of pulverized Alpinia Officinarum Rhizome according to Method 4, and perform the test (not more than 5 ppm).
Loss on drying:
Not more than 15.0z (6 hours).
Total ash:
Not more than 7.5z.
Acid-insoluble ash:
Not more than 1.5z.
Extract content:
Dilute ethanol-extract: not less than 14.0z.
Containers and storage:
Containers.Well-closed containers.
