Abstract
“Fang Ji” is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine which includes several species of plants. Authentic samples of “Fang Ji” including five samples of Aristolochia species, four samples of Stephania tetrandra and two samples of Cocculus species were compared microscopically and chemically (TLC, HPLC) with nine samples of “Fang Ji” purchased from herbal shops in Hong Kong. The renal toxins aristolochic acids I and 11 were present in each of the nine purchased samples and six of them contained the combined acid yield of 0.11 to 1.07%. Four of these samples were of poor quality being contaminated with either soil, fungi or beetles.

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