Trace Elements in Lycium barbarum L. Leaves by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry after Microwave Assisted Digestion and Multivariate Analysis

The concentrations of 14 elements in Lycium barbarum L. leaves collected from the Qaidam basin (China) were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after microwave assisted digestion. This work presents two goals: (1) to determine 14 elements in L. barbarum leaves; (2) to examine the relationship between elements using correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis. The accuracy and precision were verified against a GBW07605 Tea Leaves certified reference material. The results demonstrated that the method was reliable, reproducible, and suitable for determination of the concentrations of trace elements in L. barbarum leaves. Correlation analysis showed that aluminum–copper, arsenic–zinc, manganese–selenium, and chromium–iron have medium correlation coefficients. Principal component loading for L. barbarum leaves extracted seven components explained about 85% of the total variance. Cluster analysis depicts four clusters: (1) arsenic and titanium; (2) calcium, magnesium, manganese, selenium, and zinc; (3) cobalt, iron, and molybdenum; (4) aluminum, copper, and chromium.