QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF GINSENG BY CHEMICAL FUZZY PATTERN RECOGNITION

Water and liquor extracts of ginseng simulating its habitual prepara-tions used in the practice of traditional Chinese medical science were prepared from 25samples, and data reflecting its chemical constituents as a whole were obtained byultraviolet and visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), high performance liquidchromatography(HPLC), and emission spectroscopy with inductively coupledplasma source (ICP). Antifatigue, antidiuretic, and macrophage phagocytosis experimen-ts were carried out to determine the pharmacologic actions of the extracts. Results obtainedwith the extracts on mice were compared mutually and with those obtained on placebo-treated ones in the respective pharmacologic experiments. Based on the results of the threepharmacologic experiments ,features were selected from among the chemical data and fuzzyequations formulated hereby were solved to ascertain the effective constituents withdifferent weights and their compatibility. Finally, correlation analysis was carried out,anda new scheme for the quality assessment of ginseng has been worked out. Themethodology proposed is of general significance to the formulation of quality assessmentschemes for Chinese traditional medicines and the ascertainment of their bioactive consti-tuents.