Contents and extraction rates of inorganic elements in raw versus processed Mongolian drug Agi(Artemisia frigida Willd.)

Objective To study the effects of drug-processing on inorganic elements which are important active ingredients in Agi(Artemisia frigida Willd.) and to understand why processed products more effective against hemor-rhage than raw materials.Methods Different Agi samples including the raw herb,the processed drug and their ex-tractions were digested with HNO3-HClO4.The contents and extraction rates of inorganic elements(K,Ca,Mg,Zn,Fe,Mn,Cu,and Al) were determined by ICP-AES.Results Agi was found to be rich in inorganic elements that are essen-tial to hemostatic effects.The contents of all analyzed elements were increased after drug-processing.Specifically,con-tents of Ca,Mg and Zn were increased by 123%,125% and 432% as compared with raw herbs.In contrast,the inorgan-ic elements extraction rates declined significantly.Conclusion The higher contents of inorganic elements,especially Ca,may be helpful for enhanced hemostatic activity,which appeared consistent with their pharmacological effects.Since the extraction rates of all elements became lowered after processing,non-extracted products may be preferable for use.