Traditional Chinese Medicine Extract Properties Incorporated Energy Analysis for Membrane Concentration Processes

Research trends in functionalized Fe3O4 composites based on affinity recognition systems for targeted extraction of natural products

In recent years, target-specific affinity recognition systems based on Fe3O4-based composites have proven to be an effective method for screening natural products. Herbal medicines contain a wide range of natural products and are considered to be a major source for the development of novel drugs. However, the process of isolating and obtaining these bioactive components for the production of novel drugs is complex. Meanwhile, the complexity and diversity of herbal constituents have posed a great challenge to the screening studies of herbal active ingredients. Currently, traditional extraction and screening studies of active ingredients in herbal medicine include extraction and chromatographic separation technology development, serum medicinal chemistry, metabolomics and computerized virtual screening. In order to achieve integrated targeting of Fe3O4 for extraction and separation of natural products from herbs, various Fe3O4-based composites need to be synthesized so that the composites can be further functionalized and modified. Composites such as Fe3O4@SiO2, Fe3O4-based magnetic graphene oxide and Fe3O4-based magnetic carbon nanotubes were used to achieve targeted extraction and isolation of natural products from herbal medicines. The main extraction techniques involved based on these Fe3O4-based composites are molecularly imprinted techniques, immobilized ligand fishing techniques, and cell membrane-coated bionanotechnology methods. This article will present recent advances in the synthesis and modification of Fe3O4 composites and their applications for the extraction of natural products in conjunction with molecular imprinting, immobilization-targeted fishing, and cell-membrane-coated biomimetic techniques, as well as the future goals and challenges of functionalized modification of Fe3O4 composites for the targeted extraction of natural products, like protein overexpression modification, doping of fluorescent substances and genetic engineering development. A deeper understanding of the multi-level, multidisciplinary, and applied studies in materials science and phytochemistry will be provided by this article.

Application of membrane separation technology in the purification of pharmaceutical components

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is often composed of a variety of natural medicines. Its composition is complex, and many of its components can not be analyzed and identified. The first step in the rational application of TCM is to successfully separate the effective components which is also a great inspiration for the development of new drugs. Among the many separation technologies of TCM, the traditional heating concentration separation technology has high energy consumption and low efficiency. As a new separation technology, membrane separation technology has the characteristics of simple operation, high efficiency, environment-friendly and so on. The separation effect of high molecular weight difference solution is better. The applications of several main membrane separation technologies such as microfiltration, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis are reviewed, the methods of restoring membrane flux after membrane fouling are discussed, and their large-scale industrial applications in the future are prospected and summarized.

Comparison of different extraction methods of active ingredients of Chinese medicine and natural products

Like other traditional medicine in the world, Chinese traditional medicine (CTM) has a long history, which is a treasure of the combination of medicine and Chinese classical culture even more than 5000 years. For thousands of years, CTM has made great contributions to the reproduction and health of the Chinese people. It was an efficient therapeutic tool under the guidance of Chinese traditional medical theory, its source is generally natural products, but there are also a small number of it are natural products after some processing methods. In fact, the definition of Chinese medicine (CM) includes both traditional and new CM developed by modern technology. It is well known that the chemical composition of most CM and natural products is very complex, for example, a single herb may contain hundreds of different chemicals, including active ingredients, side effects, and even toxic ingredients. Therefore, the extraction process is particularly crucial for the quality and clinical efficacy of CM and natural products. In this work, a new classification method was proposed to divide the extraction technologies of CM and natural products into 21 kinds in recent years and analyze their status, advantages, and disadvantages. Then put forward a new technical route based on ultra-high-pressure extraction technology for rapid extraction else while removing harmful impurities and making higher utilization of CM and natural products. It is a useful exploration for the extraction industry of medicinal materials and natural products in the world.