Determination of essential and toxic trace elements in ten herbal medicines using energy-dispersive XRF analysis

The elemental concentration of ten ayurvedic drugs has been analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) method. Concentrations of 19 elements of Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Ni, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, As, Rb, Sr, Zr, and Hg have been determined using EDXRF analysis. Only the following elements were present in all the samples, with concentrations and ranges of: K (7957-149 827 mg/kg), Ca (4000-15 937 mg/kg), Fe (68-6100 mg/kg), and Sr (9-512 mg/kg). Concentrations of the rest of elements ranged from 0 to 12 008 mg/kg. Dietary intake of most elements was smaller than the recommended dietary allowance. In some specimens the toxic element of Hg was found to be beyond the permitted values. Ca and Fe in all specimens were positively well correlated with r = 0.8907, whereas Mn and Fe exhibited poor linear correlation (r = 0.5975) in all brands. The analysis by EDXRF is a simple way to investigate the quality of the drugs by determining their ingredients. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.