Feasibility of Rapid and Nondestructive Determination of Ash Content in Cornu Cervi Parvum Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

✍ Scribed by Young-Ah Woo; Hyo-Jin Kim; Sang-Yong Park; Seung-Yeup Chang; Hoeil Chung

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 58 KB
• Volume: 63
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0026-265X
• DOI: 10.1006/mchj.1999.1777

✦ Synopsis

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was applied to the nondestructive and rapid determination of ash content in Cornu Cervi Parvum, a dried horn of Cervus nippon or Cervus elaphus, which serves as a natural drug for general health care in Asian countries. Cervine horns are dried for use as a drug and are classified according to their age as either Cornu Cervi Parvum (new horn) or Cervi Cornu (old horn). Ash content is generally used to determine the quality of cervine horns. A traditional method to determine ash content is an ignition method that measures ash residue after incineration. However, more than 4 h is required for incineration and the destruction of organic compounds. NIR spectroscopy was studied as an alternative analytical method to decrease analysis time and increase laboratory efficiency. By use of partial least-squares regression, relevant information related to ash in the NIR region was successfully extracted. NIR prediction results showed good correlation with those from the ignition method. The overall results showed the feasibility of NIR spectroscopy for the determination of ash content in Cornu Cervi Parvum.