羌活為一常用的中藥材，主要含有精油、胺基酸、醣類、有機酸、生物僉等成分。味辛、性溫，具袪風解表、袪風濕、止痛、抗炎、去風濕性關節疼痛、浮腫瘡毒等療效。含Ferulic acid、Bergaptol 、Bergapten、Phenethyl ferulate、Notopterol、Lsoimperation、Bergamottin等藥理活性成分，本研究以這些化合物為指標，利用高效能液相層析儀（HPLC）來分析比較市售藥材的差異，並以羌活藥效成分抽取量的變化情形，來探討炮炙的科學意義。
分析結果顯示，市售藥材每克藥效成分萃取量分別為：Ferulic acid 0.54-2.80mg，Bergaptol 0.06-0.68mg，Bergapten 0.00-0.57mg，Phenethyl ferulate 0.23-10.59mg，Notopterol 0.13-9.80mg，Isoimperatorin 0.10-7.84mg，Bergamottin 0.00-0.72mg。原則上，表皮及中心髓部之成分含量均大於木質部，且羌活以直徑小於1.0公分，斷面呈菊花紋，香味濃郁、表皮顏色深者為佳。
炮炙結果顯示，適當的炮炙方法，可提高藥效成分的萃取量，而以炒黃3分鐘、酒炒3分鐘、悶潤10分鐘、酒蒸30分鐘等的效果最好。其中以酒炒並用半酒水萃取的增加效果最優，可使總萃取率增加達14.23%。

Qiang-huo is a widely used Chinese herbal drug, and is proved to have sedative, analgesic, and antiinfammatory effects. It mainly contains essential oils, organic acids, carbohydrate, and alkoloids etc..
In this research, we used the seven bioactive components- ferulic acid, beraptol, bergapten, phenethyl ferulate, notopterol, isoimperatorin and bergamottin as indexing standards to evaluate the quality of commercial crude drugs by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Moreover, the scientific significance of herbal processing were also investigated.
The analytical data showed that the contents of those bioactive components in the Qiang-huo crude drugs ranging from 0.54 to 2.80 mg/g for ferulic acid, 0.06 to 0.68 mg/g for bergaptol, 0.00 to 0.57 mg/g for bergapten, 0.23 to 10.59 mg/g for phenethyl ferulate, 0.13 to 9.80 mg/g for notopterol, 0.10 to 7.84 mg/g for isoimperatorin, and 0.00 to 0.72 mg/g for bergamottin. The contents in those sample with stronger aroma, deeper color or outer-part cortex were found to be higher.
After processing with various methods, Qiang-huo drug materials gave an obvious increase in extraction yield. The methods and their most suitable processing times were as follows: stir-baked to yellow- 3 minutes, baked with wine- 3 minutes, moistened wth water-10 minutes, steamed with wine-30 minutes. Among those samples, that one baking with wine and then extracting with 50% ethanol had the highest increase of 14.23% in extraction yield.