engleski

Trace heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd) in medicinal plants

Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the content of trace heavy metals Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd in herbal tea of medicinal plants, such as: yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.), mother of thyme (Thymus serpyllum L.) and german chamomile (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert and compare it with the content in the corresponding dry plant samples. Materials and methods: The medicinal plants were collected in the central and eastern regions of Croatia. We determined the concentrations of trace heavy metals in the herbal tea and in the dry samples of plants using differential pulse anodic stripping voltametry (DPASV), with a standard addition. Results and conclusions: We obtained the following concentrations of trace heavy metals in one kilogram of the herbal tea: 1.2 mg Cu in Thymus serpyllum, 7.2 mg Zn in Chamomilla recutita, 67 &micro ; ; ; ; g Cd in Chamomilla recutita and 136 &micro ; ; ; ; g kg-1 Pb in Achillea millefolium. We compared the concentratins of metals in dry plant samples (ash) and in the brewed tea (infusum). The measured values of concentrations of trace heavy metals were 1.3 to 7.0 times higher in the ash than in the infusum.

heavy metals; medicinal plants; infusum; ash; Achillea millefolium L.; Thymus serpyllum L.; Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert

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