The loss of essential oil during infusing Anchu-san was examined. After six minutes boiling, 22.7% of oil passed into the decoction and only 7.8% of oil remained when infused till half volume.
The contents of essential oil in diverse preparations of Anchu-san on the market were also compared to find that all of the medicines contained far less oil than decoction.
Then, simultaneous analysis of essential oils in Cinnamomi Cortex, Foeniculi Fructus and Amomi Semen, which constitute Anchu-san, by using high-performance liquid chromatography was investigated. The constituents of oils, cinnamaldehyde, D-camphor, borneol, linalool,
anethole and bornyl acetate, were separated by using μ-Bondapak C13 as column and water: methanol (40: 60) as eluate. From the patterns of chromatograms of the decoction and several preparations, some new informations were provided.
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