Levels of Toxic and Essential Elements in Medicinal Herbs Commercialized in Argentina
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v11i2.376-382.5420Keywords:
medicinal herbs, toxic elements, essential elements, infusion, daily intake.Abstract
The consumption of medicinal herbs, in the form of infusions, such as chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), mint (Mentha piperita) and muña-muña (Clinopodium gilliesii) is widespread in the region. The determination of toxic and essential elements is relevant to evaluate their incorporation into the human organism. Although the study of elemental levels in different herbs and their infusions is quite widespread, information on plants from Argentina is scarce. In the present work, Cd, Pb, As, Fe, Cu, Ca, Mg, Na and K were quantified in the five commercially available medicinal herbs and in their infusions by atomic absorption and emission spectrometry. In general, the nutrient levels obtained in the herbs studied followed the sequence: K > Ca > Mg > Fe > Na > Cu while in the infusions the order was: K > Mg > Na > Ca > Fe > Cu. Pb was found in the chamomile and wormwood infusions at levels below 10 µg.L-1, whereas Cd and As were not detected (LOD= 0.07 μg.L-1 and 7 μg.L-1 respectively). The estimated daily intake (EDI) values calculated for the essential elements in the infusions were lower than the recommended daily intake (RDI) levels suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) and did not provide the diet with significant nutritional values. As for to the toxic elements Pb, Cd and As, the EDI values obtained in the infusions were below the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI), indicating that they do not entail a health risk.
References
Akgül H, Mohammed FS, Kına E, Uysal İ, Sevindik M, Doğan M. 2022. Total Antioxidant and Oxidant Status and DPPH Free radical activity of Euphorbia eriophora. Turkish Journal of Agriculture-Food Science and Technology, 10(2): 272-275. https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v10i2.272-275.4685
Bakırel T, Bakırel U, Keleş OU, Ülgen SG, Yardibi H. 2008. In vivo assessment of antidiabetic and antioxidant activities of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) in alloxan-diabetic rabbits. J Ethnopharmacol, 116:64-73. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jep.2007.10.039
Başgel S, Erdemoğlu SB. 2006. Determination of mineral and trace elements in some medicinal herbs and their infusions consumed in Turkey. Sci Total Environ, 359:82-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.04.016
Bora KS, Sharma A. 2010. Phytochemical and pharmacological potential of Artemisia absinthium Linn. and Artemisia asiatica Nakai: A Review. J Pharm Res, 3(2):325-328.
Chan K. 2003. Some aspects of toxic contaminants in herbal medicines. Chemosphere, 52:1361-1371. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/S0045-6535(03)00471-5
El-Rjoob AWO, Massadeh AM, Omari MN. 2008. Evaluation of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni and Fe levels in Rosmarinus officinalis labaiatae (Rosemary) medicinal plant and soils in selected zones in Jordan. Environ Monit Assess, 140(1):61-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-9847-3
FAO. Recommended nutrient intake. Available from: https://www.fao.org/3/w0073s/w0073s1a.htm [Accessed 21 April 2022].
Fuh CB, Lin HI, Tsai H. 2003. Determination of lead, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic in 13 herbs of Tocolysis formulation using atomic absorption spectrometry. J Food Drug Anal, 11(1):39-45. https://doi.org/10.38212/2224-6614.2732
Gentscheva GD, Stafilovb T, Ivanova EH. 2010. Determination of some essential and toxic elements in herbs from Bulgaria and Macedonia using atomic spectrometry. Eurasian J Anal Chem, 5(2):104-111.
Hurrell JA. 2018. Clinopodium gilliesii (Benth.) Kuntze. In Albuquerque U, Patil U, Máthé Á. (editors). Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of South America (pp.163-172). Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1552-0_14
Karak T, Bhagat RM. 2010. Trace elements in tea leaves, made tea and tea infusion: A review. Food Res Int, 43:2234-2252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2010.08.010
Karppanen H, Mervaala E. 2006. Sodium intake and hypertension. Prog Cardiovasc Dis, 49(2):59-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2006.07.001
Kına E, Uysal İ, Mohammed FS, Doğan M, Sevindik M. 2021. In-vitro antioxidant and oxidant properties of Centaurea rigida. Turkish Journal of Agriculture-Food Science and Technology, 9(10): 1905-1907. https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v9i10.1905-1907.4603
Kirmani MZ, Mohiuddin S, Naz F, Naqvi II, Zahir E. 2011. Determination of some toxic and essential trace metals in some medicinal and edible plants of Karachi city. J Basic Appl Sci, 7(2):89-95.
Marchisio PF, Sales AM. 2005 a. On-Line pre-concentration of cadmium in commercial tea samples using polyurethane foam as filter associated with ultrasonic nebulization-inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometric detection. Instrum Sci Technol, 33:449-459. https://doi.org/10.1081/CI-200063721
Marchisio PF, Sales AM, Cerutti S, Marchevski E, Martinez LD. 2005 b. On-line pre-concentration/determination of lead in Ilex paraguariensis samples (mate tea) using polyurethane foam as filter and USN-ICP-OES. J Hazard Mater, 124(1-3):113-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2005.04.017
McKay DL, Blumberg JB. 2006. A review of the bioactivity and potential health benefits of chamomile tea (Matricaria recutita L.). Phytother Res, 20:519-530. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.1900
McKay DL, Blumberg JB. 2006. A review of the bioactivity and potential health benefits of peppermint tea (Mentha piperita L.). Phytother Res, 20:619-633. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.1936
Mihaljev Ž, Živkov-Baloš M, Ćupić Ž, Jakšić S. 2014. Levels of some microelements and essential heavy metals in herbal teas in Serbia. Acta Pol Pharm, 71(3):385-391.
Mohamed H, Haris PI, Brima EI. 2017. Estimated dietary intakes of toxic elements from four staple foods in Najran city, Saudi Arabia. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 14(12):1575. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14121575
Mohammed FS, Kına E, Uysal İ, Mencik K, Dogan M, Pehlivan M, Sevindik M. 2022. Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Ethanol Extract of Lepidium spinosum. Turkish Journal of Agriculture-Food Science and Technology, 10(6): 1116-1119. https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v10i6.1116-1119.5207
Pehlivan M, Mohammed FS, Şabik AE, Kına E, Dogan M, Yumrutaş Ö, Sevindik M. 2021. Some Biological activities of ethanol extract of Marrubium globosum. Turkish Journal of Agriculture-Food Science and Technology, 9(6): 1129-1132. https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v9i6.1129-1132.4382
Ražić S, Onjia A, Ɖogo S, Slavković L, Popović A. 2005. Determination of metal content in some herbal drugs—Empirical and chemometric approach. Talanta, 67:233-239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2005.03.023
Saletovic M, Zorica H, Banjanin B, Kesic A. 2011. Bioavailability of microelements (Cu, Zn, Mn) in medicinal plants. HealthMED, 5(5):1358-1364.
Sevindik M, Akgul H, Pehlivan M, Selamoglu Z. 2017. Determination of therapeutic potential of Mentha longifolia ssp. longifolia. Fresen Environ Bull, 26(7): 4757-4763.
Shaltout AA, Abdel-Aal MS, Welz B, Castilho INB. 2013. Determination of Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb in black tea from Saudi Arabia using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after microwave-assisted acid digestion. Anal Lett, 46(13):2089-2100. https://doi.org/10.1080/00032719.2013.784918
Shaltout AA, Abd-Elkader OH. 2016. Levels of trace elements in black teas commercialized in Saudi Arabia using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Biol Trace Elem Res, 174:477-483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-016-0728-x
Sun H, Qiao F, Suo R, Li L, Liang S. 2004. Simultaneous determination of trace arsenic (III), antimony (III), total arsenic and antimony in Chinese medicinal herbs by hydride generation-double channel atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Anal Chim Acta, 505:255-261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2003.10.071
Tokalıoğlu Ş. 2012. Determination of trace elements in commonly consumed medicinal herbs by ICP-MS and multivariate analysis. Food Chem, 134:2504-2508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.04.093
Unal O, Eraslan EC, Uysal I, Mohammed FS, Sevindik M, Akgul H. 2022. Biological activities and phenolic contents of Rumex scutatus collected from Turkey. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 31(7): 7341-7346.
Uysal İ, Mohammed FS, Şabik AE, Kına E, Sevindik M. 2021. Antioxidant and Oxidant status of medicinal plant Echium italicum collected from different regions. Turkish Journal of Agriculture-Food Science and Technology, 9(10): 1902-1904. https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v9i10.1902-1904.4588
Vassileva E, Hoenig M. 2001. Determination of arsenic in plant samples by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with ultrasonic nebulization: a complex problem. Spectrochim Acta Part B, 56:223-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0584-8547(01)00156-2
Wróbel K, Wróbel K, Colunga Urbina EM. 2000. Determination of total aluminum, chromium, copper, iron, manganese and nickel and their fractions leached to the infusions of black tea, green tea, Hibiscus sabdariffa and Ilex paraguariensis (mate) by ETA-AAS. Biol Trace Elem Res, 78:271-280. https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:78:1-3:271
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
