The ninth “SHIMADZU CUP” Symposium of National Excellent Paper Competition on Pharmaceutical Analysis was held in Guangzhou from 12 to 15 June 2009. Ph.D student Guan Jia and postgraduate student Wang Shuang from the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences (ICMS) of the University of Macau (UM), won the first and third prize for their papers entitled “Establishment of Saccharides Mapping and Its Application for Discrimination of Polysaccharides from Traditional Chinese Medicines” and “Analysis of Multi-components in Natural and Cultured Cordyceps Using HPLC-DAD-ELSD”, respectively.

Starting from 1992, the biannual “SHIMADZU CUP” Symposium of National Excellent Paper Competition on Pharmaceutical Analysis is sponsored by Pharmaceutical Analysis Committee of Chinese Pharmaceutical Association, Editorial Board of Chinese Pharmaceutical Journal and Shimadzu International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. The competition, which represents the latest development of pharmaceutical analysis in China, is one of the most influential and the highest-level academic conferences in the field of pharmaceutical analysis. More than 100 representatives from the National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, institutes for drug control at the provincial or municipal level, institutes of higher learning, research institutes and hospitals attended the meeting. Among the 141 candidate papers, 22 won awards, including two first-prize awards, six second-prize awards and 14 third-prize awards.

The two award-winning papers by UM PhD students are both funded by the University of Macau and the Science and Technology Development Fund. Despite the lack of advanced equipment, Mr. Guan successfully won the award with innovative idea and excellent experimental design. It is the first report on the saccharides mapping based on specific enzymatic digestion followed with chromatographic analysis for simple and rapid characterization of structural characteristics of polysaccharides. The polysaccharides extracted from 9 TCMs were successfully distinguished based on their characteristic profiles using the developed method. The research provided a novel strategy for the quality control of polysaccharides and has been applied for China invention patent. Ms. Wang Shuang developed an HPLC-DAD-ELSD method for simultaneous qualitative and quantitative determination of nucleosides, carbohydrates and myriocin, in natural and cultured Cordyceps. Her research showed the characteristics of carbohydrates could be used as markers for quality control of Cordyceps.

Quality control of Chinese medicine is one of the key techniques for modernization and internationalization of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Great achievements of ICMS have won widespread recognition of researchers in this field. Associate Professor Li Shaoping is the supervisor of Guan Jia and Wang Shuang. His PhD students have also won the Second Prize at the 7th and 8th “SHIMADZU CUP” Symposium of National Excellent Paper Competition on Pharmaceutical Analysis, respectively.

Caption: Award-winners Guan Jia (right), Wang Shuang (left) and their supervisor Prof. Li Shaoping