[Determination of metal contents of two Chinese medicinal herbs, Flemingiae philippinensis and Sophora tonkinensis, grown in Guangxi by ICP-AES]

Guang Pu Xue Yu Guang Pu Fen Xi. 2009 Sep;29(9):2568-70.
[Article in Chinese]

Abstract

The metal contents of traditional Chinese medicine, Sophora tonkinensis and Flemingiae philippinensis, grown in Guangxi province of China were determined by ICP-AES methods. The two herbs were digested by applying acid bomb digestion procedure. Considering RF power, nebulized gas flow rate, auxiliary gas flow rate and pump rate, the instrument was optimized. The instrument operating conditions, analytical lines and detection limits of elements determined as well as the contents of elements in these two herbs were reported. The results show that Sophora tonkinensis contains microelements Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and Cr and macroelements Ca, Mg, Na and K; Flemingiae philippinensis contains microelements Cu, Zn, Fe, Ni, Mn and Cr and macroelements Ca, Mg, Na and K. However, the two traditional Chinese medicines do not contain toxic elements Sn, Pb and Cd. The precision was found to be less than 5% in terms of relative standard deviation mostly. The results indicate that the concentration ratio of zinc to copper in Sophora tonkinensis is 6.4, while the ratio in Flemingiae philippinensis is 5.7. The content of zinc is higher than copper in both two herbs, which agrees with the phenomenon that the zinc content higher than that of copper exists in other antitumor traditional Chinese medicine. All these will afford an apocalypse for understanding the pharmacological mechanism of these anitumor traditional Chinese medicines.

MeSH terms

  • China
  • Copper
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / analysis
  • Metals / analysis*
  • Plants, Medicinal / chemistry*
  • Sodium
  • Sophora / chemistry*
  • Zinc

Substances

  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal
  • Metals
  • Copper
  • Sodium
  • Zinc