Solution "Study design, manufacture herbal extraction equipment system and completetechnological process of extracting Saponin from AchyrantheshidentataBlume"

In 2001, the research team of the 5thCentral Pharmaceutical Factory (now change to Danapha Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company) has successfully studied Cholestin capsule (with the following ingredients: Saponin, roots of AchyrantheshidentataBlume,Turmeric Plaster and Sophora Japonica L) to treat high blood cholesterol and blood lipid disorders. The drug is clinically proven to have good efficiency (more than 90% of patients with high blood cholesterol have achieved normal blood cholesterol after 02 months of using this drug–According to clinical study report of General Hospital of Quang Nam, 2002). To proceed to production, it is necessary to haveherbal extracting equipment of largescale to produce herbal plaster. The company has surveyed sources of imported equipment, but the cost is very high andinfeasible for the existing financial possibilities of the Company at that time.

In front of urgent need, through innovative combination between theory and operation principle of foreign technological equipment linereferenced in some companies, the group of authors has designed, ordered the fabrication ofanequipmentsystem of herbal extractingand plaster condensingwith the power and operationprinciple similar to imported equipment.However, the price is only one tenth of the imported equipment. In addition, the improving point of design of the authors compared to the imported equipment is the vertical condenser system, allowing the arrangement of the equipment in limited space.

In addition to manufacture of equipment system, the group of authors has also succeeded in developing a technological process of producing purified Saponin powder with industrial productionscalein accordance withquality standards to be served as materials for production of Cholestin. This can be considered as the first application of technological process of producing purified Saponin powder in Vietnam, creating materials for herbal medicine production.
 
Overall, the product has a number of advantages as follows:
- Extracting equipment: Simple structure, compact, easy manufacturing and operation, low cost, stable operation, easy maintenance and repair, with high ability to develop into much large scale.
- Production technological process: not being too complicated, stability with high repeatability, normal production costs. In terms of scale, it can upgrade easily;

The success of the solution has brought the company some economic benefits, such as: The solution has helped the company to be initiative in raw materials, save costs, lower production costs, increase the competitiveness of the products.
 
In addition, asuitable extracting equipment has been invented in accordance with size, low cost, enabling the company to save investment cost, widely apply to research and produce many other products. In fact, on this extracting equipment, we have been researching and producing many new products with high quality and high economic value such as Sedative drugs, Tadimax, VG5, “BaiThach”...

This solution has brought social efficiency as creatingproducts with good quality, high efficiency treatment to meetdemands of health care for the people, creating jobs for workers. Successful solution also helps research team and electric and mechanic team of the Company to be more confident in the field of innovative research.
 
The solution has been awarded the 3rd prize in 8thTechnical Innovation Contest by Central Union of Science and Technology, and the first prize in Technical Innovation Contest of the City by the City People's Committee, and the creative work prize bythe General Federation of Labor.