8-Gingerol

The manufacturing of Chinese medicines often faces challenges such as poor product consistency, high solvent consumption, and long processing times. The percolation process is a commonly used technique for extracting medicinal herbs. Significant variation in percolate concentration and low concentration near the endpoint make it difficult for existing online detection technologies to accurately determine target component concentrations. To address this, the study developed an online monitoring system integrating multi-modal sensors for physical quantity, image, and spectral data. Using Xiaochaihu capsules, real-time multimodal data were collected, including over 20,000 physical quantity points, 14,000 spectra, and 14,000 images. A Transformer-based framework, PMFormer, was proposed, with interpolation-based data augmentation to alleviate the "data-rich but label-scarce" problem. PMFormer achieved R² values of 0.96, 0.94, and 0.91 for 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, and adenine, with RMSEs below 2.4, 0.4, and 1.8 μg/mL, respectively. A quantitative extraction control strategy was developed, determining the percolation endpoint when the accumulated total mass of collection (ATMC) met quality control limits. Validation showed improved consistency, reduced solvent use, and enhanced efficiency, aligning with Lean Six Sigma concepts. This study provides a reference for online monitoring of TCM percolation processes and demonstrates the potential of multimodal data fusion in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Cold stress has emerged as a major threat to the global poultry industry, and it has been reported to exert adverse effects on the intestinal system of broilers. In this study, Sini Decoction (SND) and Sini Decoction enriched ginger oil (SNDO) were prepared and characterized. Then, its effect on gut health in acute cold stressed broilers was investigated. Overall, the LC-MS/MS profiles showed that a total of 60 compounds were detected in SND and SNDO. Among these findings, the content determination by HPLC revealed that the contents of 6-gingerol and 8-gingerol in SNDO were 3.24 times and 2.6 times higher than those in SND, respectively. Based on the results of animal experiment, SND and SNDO significantly increased digestive enzyme activities (P < 0.05), along with intestinal villi integrity/elongation, reduced crypt depth, and upregulated mRNA expression of intestinal tight junction proteins (P < 0.05) on days 24 and 29. Notably, SND and SNDO not only enhanced diversity of gut microbiota, enhanced the abundances of beneficial bacteria and reduced the abundances of harmful bacteria, but also increased the contents of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetic acid, propionic acid, isobutyric acid, 2-methylbutyrate, and valeric acid. Additionally, the enhanced effects of SNDO treatment were more significant in regulating intestinal apparent indices, gut microbiota and SCFAs contents. Collectively, SND and SNDO alleviated cold stress-induced intestinal injury, with SNDO exhibiting enhanced efficacy.