What's the difference between plant extracts and plant extracts?
1、 The concept of extract refers to a substance that is extracted or processed from a certain material using an appropriate solvent or method. The role of extraction is multifaceted, which can be divided into two levels: through extraction, the volume or weight can be reduced, the form can be changed, and it is convenient for packaging, storage, transportation, use, etc., which is called "form change function", that is, general function; The extraction can enrich target substances (such as active ingredients), improve efficacy (such as efficacy or effectiveness), and improve performance (such as solubility, bioavailability, safety, stability, homogeneity, etc.), which is called "performance improvement function", or advanced function. This division is helpful to fully understand the significance of the existence and development of extracts.
2、 Plant extracts and herbal extracts can be divided into plant extracts, animal extracts, fungus extracts, mineral extracts, etc. according to the different properties of raw materials. The plant extract is made of plant materials (the whole plant or a part of the plant) and can be used for health promotion or other purposes. The so-called Herbal Extract in the international market mainly refers to the extracts from medicinal plants or local traditional herbs for the purpose of improving health. Due to the uneven distribution of herbal resources, there is often a large space distance between supply and demand, which may be the initial reason for the production of herbal extracts. By giving play to the "general functions" of extraction, such as convenient storage and transportation, the redistribution of herbal resources can be achieved more economically. Therefore, some people regard the export of plant extracts as the output of resources. With the expansion of the application scope of plant extracts and the improvement of application requirements, a large number of modern new technologies, new equipment and new materials have been applied in this field. Herbal extracts have made great progress, and the "advanced functions" of extraction have gradually emerged. Herbal extracts have become a key link in the technology and quality control of the natural health industry chain. In this link, it is safe, effective, stable Controllability and uniformity provide guarantee, especially in terms of product uniformity. For example, for the production of ginkgo biloba preparations in Germany, the standardized ginkgo biloba from different sources are first "blended" before feeding, and then produced according to the programmed production process to obtain the standard ginkgo biloba extract (EGB761), and then the finished product is made with the extract formula The quality of the final products is basically stable at a level. The "advanced function" of herbal extracts is where its value lies, and is the internal driving force for its industrial development. Japan, Singapore and Taiwan began to use herbal extracts in the 1970s and 1980s; The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of the United States lists herbal extracts as dietary supplements, and the Research Guide for New Medicines of Plant Drugs of the United States allows plant drug intermediates (i.e. extracts, including single and compound prescriptions, excluding highly purified substances) to be used as prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs; In some EU countries and regions, herbal extracts are used as medical materials for health food or over-the-counter drugs (some as prescription drugs). Taking Germany as an example, plant extracts are allowed to be registered as prescription drugs in German legislative procedures, The Guidelines for the Treatment of Botanical Medicines prepared by the German Committee E proposed that: "The drugs used in the treatment are extracts of plants, which can be either extracts of plants as a whole or extracts of parts, usually compound chemical substances". There are about 60000 kinds of registered drugs in Germany that contain herbal ingredients, most of which are herbal extracts. Herbal extracts have been widely used in most countries and regions in the world.
3、 TCM Extract refers to the extract made from traditional Chinese medicine and prepared slices of traditional Chinese medicine. Its manufacturing process is not limited to the "extraction" process, but often includes pretreatment, extraction (including pressing), concentration, separation, purification and drying, granulation and other processes or some of them. It is usually used as the formula raw material of traditional Chinese medicine preparations (including decoction). Chinese herbal extracts include the extracts made from Chinese traditional medicine (Chinese herbal medicine or prepared slices of Chinese medicine, such as honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, dandelion, forsythia, etc.), as well as various medicinal plants currently used at home and abroad (such as echinacea, hypericum perforatum), medicinal fungi (such as poria cocos), including Chinese herbal extracts and herbal extracts, although there is no concept or definition of "extract" in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and other drug standards, However, terms such as "extract" or "flow extract", "clear extract" and "extract" are used in various drug standards. Among them, there are about 29 kinds of Chinese patent medicines explicitly formulated with "extract". There are 17 kinds of Chinese traditional medicine preparations formulated with extract or extract in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2000 edition). In fact, most Chinese patent medicines in China are fed with extract and flow extract. On the other hand, there are more than 3000 Chinese medicine manufacturers in China, and almost all Chinese patent medicine manufacturers have their own extraction production lines. Most of them have small production scale, and the extraction production technology and quality control level are different. Therefore, the specialization and intensification of Chinese medicine extracts will be of great significance. The Tenth Five Year Plan for the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry formulated by the State Economic and Trade Commission proposed to "promote the industrialization of traditional Chinese medicine extracts. Encourage traditional Chinese medicine extract manufacturers to accelerate technological transformation, improve product quality and technical content, achieve standardized and large-scale production, and improve international competitiveness." The State Food and Drug Administration issued the Notice on Strengthening the Supervision and Administration of the Pretreatment and Extraction of Traditional Chinese Medicine in March 2002, allowing the establishment of a workshop for the pretreatment and extraction of traditional Chinese medicine in other places. The Chinese medicine manufacturers within the group can share a pretreatment and extraction workshop, and the enterprise can entrust other Chinese medicine enterprises that have obtained the GMP certificate to extract and process traditional Chinese medicine. The rational development of Chinese herbal extracts and the adoption of advanced technologies to promote the industrialization of Chinese herbal extracts are conducive to the protection of Chinese herbal resources, the improvement of the comprehensive utilization of resources, the sustainable development of Chinese herbal medicine, and the improvement of the overall technical level, scale and intensification of the Chinese herbal industry.
