Elemental analysis of Lamiaceae medicinal and aromatic plants growing in the Republic of Moldova using neutron activation analysis

Abstract

The elemental composition of 45 species of medicinal plants of Lamiaceae family growing in the Republic of Moldova was determined by neutron activation analysis. The following elements were determined in analysed samples: Al, As, Ba, Br, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Hf, K, La, Mg, Mo, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sr, Sm, Th, U and Zn. The essential, rare earth and trace elements are present in herb at concentration levels of μg/L, whereas major elements: Ca, Cl, K, Mg, and Na in mg/L. The toxic element As was determined in all analysed plants, however in the main part of samples its content was lower than value established by World Health Organization. Principal component analysis was applied to the data matrix to evaluate analytical results. It was found that four principal components account for 75.2% of the total variance in the data.