Title : Study on metallic elements important for life determined in selected TCM plant materials used in civilization diseases
Abstract:
Far East Medicine, and others Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has recently acquired more and more attention in Europe. Due to this, it seems adequate and reasonable to monitor the level of metallic elements in medicinal plants originating from C among hina available in European market. Therefore the aim of the studies was to analyze quantitatively the concentration of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb in medicinal plant materials originating from China used against civilization diseases. The studied samples were as follows: Radix Polygoni Multiflori (He Shou Wu), Fructus Lycii (Gou Qi Zi), Fructus Crataegi (Shan Zha), Radix Rehmanniae (Shu Di Huang) – Sheng and Radix Rehmanniae Preparata. After microwave digestion, the obtained digests were used for evaluation of metallic element contents by FAAS technique (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd). It was found that the highest amounts of the studied elements were present in Radix Rehmanniae, whereas the lowest in Fructus Lycii and Fructus Crataegi. For interpretation of the results, statistical methods were applied, and cluster analysis showed that samples originating from the same botanical plant species were often found in the same cluster. Principal component analysis revealed that the contents of Fe, Pb, Cu and Cd were among the most important factors responsible for differentiation of investigated medicinal plants.
