Abstract
Minerals and heavy metal concentrations of 23 plants (arial parts, leaves, bark, stem, root, rhizome, dried berries, seeds) possessing health-promoting effects and used in indigenous medicines (as medicinal food) were determined using inductively coupled plasma atomic spectrometry. Vital essential minerals and heavy metals were present in all the samples analyzed. The majority of the plant materials were rich in some of the essential minerals like Na, K, Ca, Fe, Mg, Cu, Mn, and Zn, which are known to be beneficial for health. The plant material of Vitiveria zizinalis had highest concentration of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic (53.1 mg/100 g), chromium (6.74 mg/100 g), cobalt (10.2 mg/100 g), mercury (3.6 mg/100 g), and nickel (3.28 mg/100 g). Results of the present study provide vital data on the availability of some essential minerals, which can be useful to provide dietary information for designing value-added foods and for food biofortification. Apart from this, data on the contaminant levels of heavy metals highlights the necessity on the quality and safety concerns about their use.
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Bhat, R., Kiran, K., Arun, A.B. et al. Determination of Mineral Composition and Heavy Metal Content of Some Nutraceutically Valued Plant Products. Food Anal. Methods 3, 181–187 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-009-9107-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-009-9107-y