Medicinal plants contain biologically active substances that have a physiological effect on the human body. In the territory of Ukraine, 15 of the most important medicinal plants grow from a medical point of view, among which are
The body is not able to synthesize trace elements and makes up for their deficiency only from food, therefore trace elements are irreplaceable, and their absence or excess causes the development of many diseases (
Unfortunately, our system of consumption of elements is not at all adapted to the assimilation of inorganic compounds and salts of various elements that enter our body with water, food, air as a product of technogenic pollution (
Preparations containing inorganic microelements are prescription pharmaceuticals and are taken only under medical supervision. Extracts and infusions of biologically active substances from medicinal raw materials, compensate for the deficiency of macro- and microelements, contain, as a rule, only organically bound elements, are not able to harm the body even with thoughtless and incorrect use (
The peculiarity of extracts and infusions from medicinal plants is that their biologically active substances are in a certain ratio, contributing to the optimal effect on the human body. Some components of plant extracts are similar in chemical structure to physiologically active substances of the body (hormones, vitamins, enzymes, etc.). Therefore, such natural medicines are more actively involved in the biochemical processes of the human body together with juices (
The need to fortify food with micro- and microelements is dictated by objective changes in the lifestyle, set, and nutritional value of the food used in food (
Is to determine some micro- and macroelements in medicinal plants, data for which are not available in the literature, to create tables of the chemical composition of medicinal plants. There is an assumption that
For research, we took medicinal raw materials –
Distilled water (H2O) for extraction, it was pre-purified in an aqueous distiller. The electrical conductivity of manufactured distilled water meets the national standard of laboratory distilled water of the first level and can be used in medicine and everyday life.
Ethanol (C2H5OH, producer «Inter-Synthesis» Limited Liability Company, Ukraine, chemically pure for analysis).
Sodium chloride (NaCl, producer «Inter-Synthesis» Limited Liability Company, Ukraine, chemically pure for analysis).
Potassium chloride (KCl, producer «Inter-Synthesis» Limited Liability Company, Ukraine, chemically pure for analysis).
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3, producer «Inter-Synthesis» Limited Liability Company, Ukraine, chemically pure for analysis).
The above anhydrous salts were used to make reference solutions and to construct calibration graphs of macronutrient content.
Medicinal raw materials (
Automated refractometer (Anton Paar, producer «Inter-Synthesis» Limited Liability Company, Ukraine). By which the dry matter content was determined.
The thermometer is laboratory (TLS-200, producer «Inter-Synthesis» Limited Liability Company, Ukraine).
Surfactometer (Saturn-4, producer «Inter-Synthesis» Limited Liability Company, Ukraine). By which the content of trace elements was determined.
Flame photometer (BWB Technologies, producer «Inter-Synthesis» Limited Liability Company, Ukraine).
Determination of dry matter content was carried out according to
For the determination of macroelements, the flame photometry method was used, which is an arbitration method for the determination of metals in food products.
Emission photometry is based on the method of constructing a calibration graph. It is used when the composition of the sample is known, and the approximate amount of ion interferes. This makes it possible to maximally approximate the composition of the standard solutions to the composition of the samples to be determined. Standard solutions were prepared from standard solutions by dilution. Water was used as an extract, and a 20% aqueous-alcoholic solution was used for infusion.
Reference solutions are solutions (samples) in which the content of the element to be determined is known with sufficient accuracy. Reference solutions were prepared from standard solutions by diluting them. The starting materials for the preparation of reference solutions are double-distilled water and anhydrous chemically pure salts of the brand "HC" or NaCl, KCl, and CaCO3. The calculated amount of salt was weighed on an analytical balance to the nearest 0.0001 g and dissolved in a volumetric flask. For each solution (both reference and determined) took 5 readings of the device and found the average value.
Calibration graphs were constructed in the coordinates:
where: I is the current on the microammeter (instrument readings), μA;
C is the concentration of the solution, μg.mL-1.
The number of the element in the sample was determined according to the schedule. Determination of trace elements using the atomic absorption method was carried out according to
Conditions for atomic absorption determination of elements.
Element | Resonance line length, nm | Spectral slit width, nm | Concentration of solutions for graduation, µg.mL-1 | |
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Cu(II) (copper) | 324.7 | 0.1 | 0.5 – 4.0 | |
Zn (II) (zinc) | 213.9 | 0.5 | 0.1 – 2.0 | |
Fe(III) (iron) | 248.3 | 0.1 | 1 – 10 |
Sample preparation: Two samples of medicinal raw materials were used for research –
Number of samples analyzed: During the experimental research, 20 different samples (
Number of repeated analyses: All measurements of instrument, readings were performed 5 times.
Number of experiment replication: The number of repetitions of each experiment to determine one value was also 5 times.
Mathematical and statistical processing of experimental data was carried out in determining the criteria of Cochran's C test, Fisher, and Student's
The established micronutrient profile includes data on the content of such macro- and microelements as calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, zinc, and copper in extracts and infusions from
Comparing the results obtained, we can say in the affirmative about the micro- and macro elements that have passed into extracts that
Before starting the experiments, the raw material was preliminarily crushed for better transfer of the raw material substances into the extract or infusion. When using water, the crushed raw material was subjected to an increase in temperature from 20 – 70 ºС, determining the dry matter content every 10 minutes (Figure
Change in the number of dry substances in medicinal raw materials with an increase in the duration of extraction.
For the transfer of extractives from medicinal raw materials to the extract, the temperature range was taken from 40 – 60 ºС. The authors of scientific works (
As seen in Figure
Change in the content of dry substances in medicinal raw materials with an increase in the duration of time at different temperatures.
For another extractant of a water-alcohol solution, thanks to which fat-soluble substances can be extracted, a concentration of 20 wt % was taken. When using a water-alcohol solution, the temperature of the mixture was not increased, as it was done for water, since alcohol is a volatile substance. Measurements were carried out every 30 minutes and the dry matter content was determined over 2.5 hours. Based on the research results, curves were constructed for both medicinal plants (Figure
Influence of the duration of infusion of medicinal raw materials in a water-alcohol solution on the dry matter content.
It is visible on the graph the transition of dry substances into infusions, and for
As shown by the results of our research (Table
The content of macronutrients in extrtacts and infusions, μg.mL-1.
Element | Water extract | Water-alcohol infusion | ||
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K (potassium) | 1.5 ±0.01 | 1.27 ±0.01 | 1.2 ±0.01 | 1.05 ±0.01 |
Ca (calcium) | 20 ±0.1 | 16 ±0.05 | 36 ±0.15 | 23.5 ±0.1 |
Na (sodium) | 280 ±5 | 148 ±3 | 275 ±3 | 12 ±1 |
Data analysis Table
Content of trace elements in extracts and infusions, μg.mL-1.
Trace element | Water extract | Water-alcohol infusion | ||
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Zn (zinc) | 1.03 ±0.01 | 0.3 ±0.01 | 0.48 ±0.01 | 0.23 ±0.01 |
Cu(copper) | 0.73 ±0.01 | 0.18 ±0.01 | 0.6 ±0.01 | 0.2 ±0.01 |
Fe(III) (iron) | 3.8 ±0.015 | 0.32 ±0.015 | 0.2±0.01 | 0.03 ±0.015 |
These data are consistent with the results of studies of the composition of macro- and microelements for medicinal raw materials and, in particular, lie within the data obtained at different extraction temperatures (
The composition of micronutrients in extracts and infusions from medicinal raw materials corresponds to the standards of consumption for adults recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (
The amounts of micronutrients of extracts and infusions from
We would like to thank you to Dr. for Larysa Bal-Prylypko.
This research received no external funding.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article does not contain any studies that would require an ethical statement.