Anti-Platelet Aggregation Activity and Chemical Analysis of Raw and Wine Stir-Fried Chuanxiong Rhizoma (Kot-Hua-Bua)

Chuanxiong Rhizoma (CR) is the dried rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. It is known as Kot-Hua- Bua in Thai traditional medicine. Two types of CR, raw CR and wine stir-fried CR, were commercially available in traditional drugstores in Thailand. Raw CR was found to have more inhibitory effect on ADP-induced platelet aggregation than wine stir-fried CR (34.36 ± 5.80 vs. 9.31 ± 3.14%, respectively; p = 0.009). Their chemical profiles using HPLC-DAD and TLC-UV-densitometric methods were similar, but the amount of several bioactive compounds found in wine stir-fried CR, e.g., senkyunolide H, senkyunolide I, ferulic acid, 3-butylidenephthalide, and levistolide A, were lesser. 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural was the artifact compound detected only in wine stir-fried CR. These results indicated that even both raw CR and wine stir-fried CR were the rhizome of the same herb, but their bioactivity and chemical quality were clearly different and should be concerned.