16. Determination of heavy metals concentration in Astragalus anisacanthus and Ebenus stellata of Balochistan, Pakistan
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Abstract
Various elements along with heavy metals, present in different medicinal plants, play important roles in human’s life. Assuming this, the concentrations of nine different elements including heavy metals were analyzed in selected medicinal plants i.e. Astragalus anisacanthus and Ebenus stellata. Wet digestion method was performed for the mineralization of plant samples employing three strong acids such as sulphuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid (HNO3) and per chloric acid (HClO4) in ratio of 1:5:0.5mL respectively followed by filtration and analysis by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. For Na and K, flame photometer was used and samples were diluted up to hundred folds for obtaining results within the range of the instrument. The increasing order of concentration of elements in A. anisacanthus is as: Cd<Pb<Co<Ni<Cu<Mn<Fe<K<Na, whereas in E. stellata was found as: Cd<Co<Ni<Cu<Mn<Pb<Fe<K<Na. The accumulation of heavy metals in plants was different in concentration according to the study. Furthermore, the concentrations were also within the range established by international organization. In future, the usefulness of this research work is that it will result in the synthesis of many new drugs as well as it will also be used for providing public protection regarding the adverse effects of heavy metals.
Keywords: Flame atomic absorption spectroscopy; Flame photometer; Flame emission spectroscopy; Heavy metals; Wet digestion