Study on the Reproducibility of Organoleptic Evaluation of Commercial Specification of Rhizoma Coptidis based on Delphi Method
基于Delphi法的黄连药材商品规格感官评价的重现性研究

This study aimed to evaluate the reproducibility and scientificity of organoleptic evaluation method for Chinese medicinal materials.A two-round investigation based on Delphi method was performed to test the consistency and reproducibility of organoleptic evaluation on Rhizoma coptidis.Fourteen experts were invited in this evaluation.The influence of working years,job category and education background of these experts on their evaluation results was also discussed.Then,main organoleptic indices which experts emphasized on the evaluation of Rhizoma coptidis quality were concluded by statistical analysis.The results showed that the average authority coefficient of invited experts was 0.76 and the average reproducing rate of each expert was 88.3%.The average reproducing rate of expert groups was above 77.4%.It was found that job category and education background had significant influence to the evaluation results(P<0.05).Those experts received modern education or worked in colleges made more reliable and reproducible results than others.Working years of experts had some influence to the results but no statistical significance was found.Based on the statistical analysis,shape,size and color were concluded as the main organoleptic indices to judge the commercial specifications of Rhizoma coptidis in its quality evaluation.It is concluded that organoleptic evaluation method was objective and repeatable.Delphi method can be utilized as an effective tool to investigate the objectivity and normalization of organoleptic evaluation for Chinese medicinal materials.