Characterization of herbal medicine with different particle sizes using pyrolysis GC/MS, SEM, and thermal techniques

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 2013-03, Vol.111 (3), p.1691-1698
• Main Authors: Correia, Lidiane Pinto, Procópio, José Valdilânio Virgulino, de Santana, Cleildo Pereira, Santos, Ana Flávia Oliveira, de Medeiros Cavalcante, Horacinna Maria, Macêdo, Rui Oliveira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Calorimetry; Chemical properties; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromatography; Differential thermal analysis; General pharmacology; Herbal medicine; Inorganic Chemistry; Mass spectrometry; Mathematical analysis; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Medical sciences; Medicine, Botanic; Medicine, Herbal; Methods; Particle size; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Powders; Pyrolysis; Scanning electron microscopy; Thermal analysis
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926; 1572-8943
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-011-2129-x

Analytical techniques have been used to characterize compounds from herbal medicine, its products and extracts. The objective of this study was to characterize a variety of particle sizes of Erythrina velutina Willd powder. The samples used in the study were named MUF01 (710 μm), MUF03 (180 μm) and MUF05 (75 μm). The techniques employed were scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal analysis such as thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) together with pyrolysis coupled to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS). SEM enabled us to detect the existence of divergences from the expected results from the granulometry process. Thermal analytical techniques (TG and DTA) showed the thermal decomposition profile, corresponding to physical and chemical phenomena. The chromatographic data relative to the peak area of the compounds analyzed evidenced quantitative differences in the chemical compositions of the samples MUF01, MUF03, and MUF05 at 300, 450 and 600 °C. Neophytadiene 2,6,10-trimethyl, 14 and 3-eicosyne were identified by Pyr-GC/MS at 300, 450 and 600 °C, and it classified the samples according the peak area values, which were MUF05 > MUF03 > MUF01. SEM, DTA and TG confirmed this through particle size uniformity, heat flow, and mass loss, respectively.