Optimization of Preparation Processing and Evaluation of Anticoagulant Activity in Vitro of Astragalus Composite Granular Tea

In this study, Astragalus composite granular tea was prepared by decocting, concentrating, granulation and drying processes of the twelve kinds of dietary Chinese herbs such as Astragalus, Salvia miltiorrhiza and Panax notoginseng. The decocting process of Astragalus composite granular tea was optimized by single factor experiments and response surface methodology. The categories and proportion of excipients were selected by the experiments of molding rate, angle of repose, stacking density, moisture absorption rate and sensory score. The flavor components were detected by electronic nose technique and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The anticoagulant activities in vitro were evaluated by three types of anticoagulant experiments. The results indicated that the optimum processing conditions of Astragalus composite granular tea were as follows: The soaking time was 45 min, the added amount of water was 13 times, the decoction time was 60 min, and the times of decoction was 3 times. The ratio of the concentrated extractives to compound excipients (lactose:xylitol=1:1) was 1:2.5. Under these conditions, the polysaccharide content in the decoction reacheed 497.53 mg/g. Its quality indicators, including physicochemical properties, pollutants, total bacterial count, and pathogenic bacteria, all complied with national standards. 74 volatile components were identified in Astragalus composite granular tea, including mainly aldehydes, alkenes, esters and alcohols, and its content accounted for 94.07% of the total content. The results of anticoagulant experiments showed that the Astragalus composite granular tea could significantly prolong activated (P<0.05) partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT) and thrombin time (TT) at the concentration of 0.2 g/mL, indicating that it could significantly (P<0.05) exert anticoagulant effect through three pathways of endogenous clotting pathways, exogenous clotting pathways and inhibition of fibrinogen conversion into fibrin pathways. It provided a theoretical basis for the application of Astragalus composite granular tea.