ISO 23723:2021

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 23723
First edition
2021-08
Traditional Chinese medicine —
General requirements for herbal raw
material and materia medica
Médecine traditionnelle chinoise — Exigences générales relatives aux
matières premières issues des plantes et à la matière médicale
Reference number
ISO 23723:2021(E)
©
ISO 2021

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ISO 23723:2021(E)

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© ISO 2021
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ISO 23723:2021(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 General principle . 2
5 Requirements for all Chinese materia medica . 3
5.1 General . 3
5.2 Identification . 3
5.3 Quality requirements . 3
5.3.1 Moisture and loss on drying . 3
5.3.2 Foreign matter . 3
5.4 Safety requirements . 3
5.4.1 Heavy metals and arsenic . 3
5.4.2 Pesticide residues . 3
6 Requirements for specific Chinese materia medica . 3
6.1 Quality requirements . 3
6.1.1 Total ash and acid-insoluble ash . 3
6.1.2 Assay . . . 3
6.1.3 Extractives . 4
6.1.4 Essential oil . 4
6.1.5 Rancidity . 4
6.1.6 Degree of colouration . 4
6.2 Safety requirements . 4
6.2.1 Sulfur dioxide residues . 4
6.2.2 Aflatoxins . 4
6.2.3 Aristolochic acids . 4
6.2.4 Aconitum alkaloids . 4
6.2.5 Microbial contamination . 4
7 Methods . 4
7.1 Identification . 4
7.1.1 Macroscopic identification . 4
7.1.2 Microscopic identification . 5
7.1.3 TLC identification and HPLC identification . 5
7.2 Quality tests . 5
7.2.1 Moisture and loss on drying . 5
7.2.2 Foreign matter . 5
7.2.3 Total ash and acid-insoluble ash . 5
7.2.4 Assay . . . 5
7.2.5 Extractives . 5
7.2.6 Essential oil . 5
7.2.7 Rancidity . 6
7.2.8 Degree of colouration . 6
7.3 Safety test . 6
7.3.1 Heavy metal and arsenic . 6
7.3.2 Pesticide residues . 7
7.3.3 Sulfur dioxide residues . 7
7.3.4 Aflatoxins . 7
7.3.5 Aristolochic acids . 7
7.3.6 Aconitum alkaloids . 7
7.3.7 Microbial contamination . 7
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ISO 23723:2021(E)

8 Sampling . 7
9 Test report . 8
10 Packaging . 8
11 Labelling . 8
12 Storage and transportation . 8
Annex A (informative) Test information of single herbs in national and regional pharmacopoeias 9
Bibliography .100
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ISO 23723:2021(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
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ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
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expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
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iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 249, Traditional Chinese medicine.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
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ISO 23723:2021(E)

Introduction
Chinese herbal medicine, as an important component of traditional Chinese medicine, is widely used in
many countries because of its high value to human health and huge market. The annual sales of Chinese
herbal medicine are worth more than USD 16 billion and are increasing at a rate of 10 % to 20 % per
year, with great future potential. Such great opportunities for trade call for International Standards
specifying the requirements for herbal medicines, in order to ensure their quality and safety, and to
avoid misuse due to varietal complexity, harmful foreign matter and adverse drug reactions.
There are specific standards for important species, such as ISO 20409 for Panax notoginseng root
and rhizome. However, it is impractical to develop one-on-one standards for the thousands of species
of herbal medicine used in traditional Chinese medicine in the different traditions and regions. It is
preferable to have one International Standard of general requirements for herbal medicine, because
herbal medicines have many aspects in common.
The purpose of this document is to:
a) provide a standard for the species not covered in the existing International Standards for single
species of herbal medicine;
b) provide an outline and reference for International Standards for single species of herbal medicine.
The principles that were followed in preparing this document are as follows:
1) cover all general requirements of herbal medicine recorded by national, regional and organizational
[1]
pharmacopoeia, such as the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, the Japanese
[2] [3] [4]
Pharmacopoeia, the Korean Pharmacopoeia and the European Pharmacopoeia ;
2) distill the common characteristics of herbal medicine and formulate general requirements;
3) fully consider and respect the testing method and specific requirements on national or regional
pharmacopoeias, legislation and standards.
The general requirements do not define general limit values. Annex A provides additional information
as it lists the monographs for specific herbs in national and regional pharmacopoeias, including the
items that are covered, meaning that limit values can be searched.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 23723:2021(E)
Traditional Chinese medicine — General requirements for
herbal raw material and materia medica
1 Scope
This document specifies the general requirements and test methods for herbal raw material and
materia medica.
This document provides minimum requirements for those herbal materials that are not covered by
individual standards.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 1573, Tea — Determination of loss in mass at 103 °C
ISO 1575, Tea — Determination of total ash
ISO 1577, Tea — Determination of acid-insoluble ash
ISO 18664, Traditional Chinese Medicine — Determination of heavy metals in herbal medicines used in
Traditional Chinese Medicine
ISO 19609-2, Traditional Chinese medicine — Quality and safety of raw materials and finished products
made with raw materials — Part 2: Identity testing of constituents of herbal origin
ISO/TS 21310, Traditional Chinese medicine — Microscopic examination of medicinal herbs
ISO 22217, Traditional Chinese medicine —Storage requirements for raw materials and decoction pieces
ISO 22258, Traditional Chinese medicine — Determination of pesticide residues in natural products by gas
chromatography
ISO 22283, Traditional Chinese medicine — Determination of aflatoxins in natural products by LC-FLD
1)
ISO 22467 , Traditional Chinese Medicine — Determination of microorganism in natural products
ISO 22590, Traditional Chinese medicine — Determination of sulfur dioxide in natural products by titration
ISO 23190, Traditional Chinese medicine — Determination of aristolochic acids in natural products by HPLC
ISO 23191, Traditional Chinese medicine — Determination of selected Aconitum alkaloids by high-
performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
World Health Organization. Quality Control Methods for Herbal Materials. World Health Organization,
2011
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
1) Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: ISO/FDIS 22467:2021.
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ISO 23723:2021(E)

ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
Chinese materia medica
medicinal parts of medicinal plants, animals and minerals after preliminary processing, which are used
in traditional Chinese medicine as decoction pieces and raw materials to make decoction pieces
Note 1 to entry: The different nomenclatures of the Chinese materia medica in use are described as follows:
— Latin name: Latin pharmaceutical name of the Chinese materia medica. In the Latin name, the genus name or
genus name plus species name is followed by the applicable medicinal parts. Items are listed in alphabetical
order of the Latin name for easy and convenient searching.
— Chinese name: Han (Chinese) character name of the Chinese materia medica. Han characters include both the
simplified character and the traditional character, which is given in parentheses.
— Pinyin name: Pinyin name (Chinese phonetic) of the Chinese materia medica. The “four tones” have been
added in Pinyin to facilitate practice by users. Pinyin syllabication (in parentheses) is provided to facilitate
correct pronunciation.
— Scientific name: Latin scientific name of the source of the Chinese materia medica.
— English name: commonly used English name of the Chinese materia medica.
[SOURCE: ISO 18662-1:2017, 3.1, modified.]
3.2
foreign matter
non-medicinal parts or components which can be carried or mixed in herbal raw material and materia
medica
EXAMPLE Material consisting of any or all of the following:
— Parts of the herbal material or materials other than those named with the limits specified for the herbal
material concerned.
— Any organism, part or product of an organism, other than that named in the specification and description of
the herbal material concerned.
— Mineral admixtures such as soil, stones, sand and dust, and glass, metal and plastics or any other extraneous
materials. These can be loose or adhering to these herbal materials.
4 General principle
For single herbs with existing International Standards, these International Standards apply.
For single herbs without existing International Standards, this document applies.
For single herbs with existing International Standards, but in which some requirements are not
specified, this document applies.
Requirements in Chapter 5 shall apply to all herbal materials.
Requirements in Chapter 6 shall apply to some specific herbal materials, of which the test items
covered by monographs of national and regional pharmacopoeias are listed in Table A.1 of Annex A for
information. The herbal name, pharmaceutical name, regional expressions and English name of these
herbal materials are listed in Table A.2 of Annex A for information.
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ISO 23723:2021(E)

5 Requirements for all Chinese materia medica
5.1 General
The presence of mouldy plant material, obvious deterioration of physical appearance, external
contaminants and living insects which are visible to the naked eye shall not be permitted.
The presence of mouldy smells or taste shall not be permitted.
5.2 Identification
The identity shall be authenticated based on one of the following:
— macroscopic features of the whole material, fragmented material or both;
— microscopic features of the powdered material;
— a thin layer chromatography (TLC) or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint
to verify the presence of characteristic compounds and, where applicable, to exclude characteristic
compounds of known adulterations.
5.3 Quality requirements
5.3.1 Moisture and loss on drying
The content of water or loss on drying shall be determined.
5.3.2 Foreign matter
The percentage and nature of foreign matter shall be determined.
5.4 Safety requirements
5.4.1 Heavy metals and arsenic
The content of heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic shall be determined.
5.4.2 Pesticide residues
The content of pesticide residues listed in ISO 22258 shall be determined.
6 Requirements for specific Chinese materia medica
6.1 Quality requirements
6.1.1 Total ash and acid-insoluble ash
To limit the content of inorganic impurities (such as clay and sand) in some specific herbal materials,
the content of total ash and acid insoluble ash shall be determined.
6.1.2 Assay
For some specific herbal materials that contain chemical substance(s) that serve as marker compounds,
an assay shall be applied.
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6.1.3 Extractives
For some specific herbal materials, the content of water-soluble extractive, ethanol-soluble extractive
or ether-soluble extractives shall be determined.
6.1.4 Essential oil
For some specific herbal materials containing volatile oils, the content of essential oil shall be
determined.
6.1.5 Rancidity
For some specific herbal materials containing volatile oils or fatty oils which are liable to become
rancid, rancidity shall be determined.
6.1.6 Degree of colouration
For some specific herbal materials containing volatile oils or fatty oils which are liable to get oil
extravasation, degree of colouration shall be determined.
6.2 Safety requirements
6.2.1 Sulfur dioxide residues
For some specific herbal materials where the contamination with sulfur dioxide is a known safety issue,
sulfur dioxide shall be determined.
6.2.2 Aflatoxins
For some specific herbal materials where the contamination with aflatoxins is a known safety issue,
aflatoxin B and total aflatoxins shall be determined according to ISO 22283.
1
6.2.3 Aristolochic acids
For some specific herbal materials originated from the Aristolochia genus, aristolochic acids shall be
determined according to ISO 23190.
6.2.4 Aconitum alkaloids
For some specific herbal materials originated from the Aconitum genus, aconitum alkaloids shall be
determined according to ISO 23191.
6.2.5 Microbial contamination
For some specific herbal materials where the contamination with microorganism is a known safety
issue, microbial contamination shall be determined.
7 Methods
7.1 Identification
7.1.1 Macroscopic identification
Macroscopic identification includes shape, size, colour, texture, odour and taste of herbal material.
Perform macroscopic identification according to ISO 19609-2.
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7.1.2 Microscopic identification
The testing method specified in ISO/TS 21310 applies.
7.1.3 TLC identification and HPLC identification
The testing methods specified in monographs of existing national or regional pharmacopoeias apply.
7.2 Quality tests
7.2.1 Moisture and loss on drying
The testing method of water content specified in the World Health Organization's Quality Control
Methods for Herbal Materials applies.
The testing method of loss on drying specified in ISO 1573 applies.
7.2.2 Foreign matter
Weigh a quantity of the substance to be examined and spread it out in a thin layer. Examine for foreign
matter by inspection with the unaided eye or by use of a lens (5× to 10×). To separate the foreign matter,
a suitable sieve can be used if necessary. Weigh separately each kind of foreign matter and calculate its
percentage content.
NOTE 1 When the foreign matter closely resembles the official drug and it is difficult to distinguish between
them, the microscopical, chemical or physical methods can be used to identify the foreign matter.
Cut the big crude drugs and examine for the occurrence of insects, mould and deterioration.
NOTE 2 Unless otherwise specified, the quantity of substance to be examined for the determination of foreign
matter is in accordance with the requirements for the sampling of crude drugs.
7.2.3 Total ash and acid-insoluble ash
The testing methods specified in ISO 1575 and ISO 1577 apply for total ash and acid-insoluble ash,
respectively.
7.2.4 Assay
For chemical characterization, an assay can be suitable if methods and technologies are available, for
example, in monographs of existing national or regional pharmacopoeias. When the method of a certain
pharmacopoeia is chosen, the limit value of that pharmacopoeia monograph shall apply.
7.2.5 Extractives
Extractives include water-soluble extractives, ethanol-soluble extractives and ether-soluble extractives.
The testing methods specified in the World Health Organization's Quality Control Methods for Herbal
Materials apply.
7.2.6 Essential oil
Weigh the quantity of the test sample for analysis in a 1-l hard glass-stoppered flask and add from
5 times to 10 times as much water as the drug. Set up the apparatus for essential oil determination
(Figure 1); insert the left-lower mouth (1) into the flask and insert a reflux condenser into the upper
mouth (2), then heat the contents of the flask in an oil bath of between 130 °C and 150 °C to boiling.
Fill the graduated tube of the apparatus with water to the standard line (3) and add 2,0 ml of xylene.
Unless otherwise specified, continue boiling for 5 hours, allow to stand for some time then open the
stopper of the apparatus. Draw off the water slowly until the surface of the oil layer corresponds to
the preparation line (4) and allow it to stand for more than 1 hour at ambient temperature. Then lower
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ISO 23723:2021(E)

the surface of the oil layer to the zero line and read the volume (ml) of the oil at ambient temperature.
Subtract the volume (ml) of xylene from the volume of the total oil.
Key
1 left-lower mouth
2 upper mouth
3 standard line
4 preparation line
Figure 1 — Apparatus for essential oil determination
7.2.7 Rancidity
Rancidity includes acid value, peroxide value and carbonyl value. The testing method specified in the
World Health Organization's Quality Control Methods for Herbal Materials applies.
7.2.8 Degree of colouration
The testing method specified in the World Health Organization's Quality Control Methods for Herbal
Materials applies.
7.3 Safety test
7.3.1 Heavy metal and arsenic
The testing method specified in ISO 18664 applies.
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