Trace Metal Determination in the Medicinal Plant Hyoscyamus (Solanaceae) by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

The concentrations of Cd, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cr, Fe, B, and A1 were determined in four different medicinal plants of the Hyoscyamus species: Hyoscyamus reticulums L, Hyoscyamus leptocalyx STAPF, Hyoscyamus aureus L, and Hyoscyamus albus L by ICP-OES. By considering the sensitivity of ICP-OES with respect to the trace level determination of Cd, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cr, Fe, B, and Al in the studied plant samples and the limitations of sample amount possible in a microwave digestion procedure, the ashing method was applied before analysis and proved the quantitative measurements of the elements.The accuracy of the method was verified by comparison to the certified reference sample NCSZC 73014 Tea Leaves. The RSD values were between 0.14-10.4%, while the error values were in the 90-107% range. The results show that with the proposed method higher concentrations of Ni, Cr, Pb, Fe, and B were determined in H. aureus. Interestingly, the concentration of Cu in H. reticulatus was approximately 48.5 times higher than the mean Cu values of the other three Hyoscyamus species, while the Pb concentration levels in H. aureus were 17.8 times higher than in the H. reticulatus L, H. leptocalyx STAPF, and H. albus L species.