Chemical and pharmaceutical evaluation of roasted Ephedra herba and elucidation of the health hazards caused by white smoke generated during processing.

In traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Japanese medicine (Kampo medicine), crude drugs are processed to obtain different efficacy, potentially improving the efficacy from the same sample or reducing its adverse effects. Honey-roasted Ephedra herba (EH) and roasted EH are often processed to reduce its sweating inducing effects and enhance its antitussive effects. We attempted to standardize roasted EH based on changes in ephedrine alkaloid content by optimizing the heating temperature and roasting color using a spectrophotometer. Additionally, the volatile oil content of the standardized roasted EH as well as its inhibition of adipose differentiation and change in thermogenesis-related gene expression were assessed using mouse preadipocytes and rat brown adipocytes. As the processing temperature increased, the contents of (1R, 2S)-(-)-ephedrine, (1S, 2S)-(+)-pseudoephedrine, (1R, 2S)-(-)-N-methylephedrine, (1R, 2S)-(-)-norephedrine, and (1S, 2S)-(+)-norpseudoephedrine decreased, with significant decreases recorded at temperatures > 250 °C for the five alkaloids. L* and b* decreased with increasing temperature, whereas a* increased. C*