Elemental composition of herbal medicines sold over-the-counter in São Paulo city,Brazil |
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Authors: | H S Moreira M B A Vasconcellos E R Alves F M Santos M Saiki |
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Institution: | 1.Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares,IPEN-CNEN/SP,S?o Paulo,Brazil;2.Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas,Universidade de S?o Paulo,S?o Paulo,Brazil |
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Abstract: | In Brazil, the use of herbal medicines is very popular due to its immense flora, cultural aspects and to the popular belief
that herbs, which are of natural origin, are safe and without undesirable side effects. Aside from that public interest in
natural therapies, the use of herbal medicines has increased expressively due to the high cost of synthetic medicines. In
this study, elemental compositions of herbal medicines from the species Ginseng, Ginkgo biloba, Centella asiatica, Mulberry and Aloe vera supplied by different suppliers were evaluated by neutron activation analysis. The concentrations of As, Ba, Br, Ca, Cl,
Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Hf, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Th, Zn and some lanthanides were determined in these samples. Comparisons made
between the results indicated differences in their elemental contents depending on the plant species, origins of the samples
and the age of the leaves. The results also showed that the herbal medicines contain elements such as Ca, Co, K, Fe, Mg and
Zn known as essential to humans and for treatment and prevention of diseases. Toxic elements such as Hg, Cd and Cu were not
detected. Elements As and Sb were detected in some samples but at very low concentrations at the μg kg−1 levels. Herbal medicine results were also compared to literature values. Biological certified reference material was analyzed
for quality control of the analytical results. |
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