Nature Environment and Pollution Technology

Ambika Sharma ¹, Sunita Shailajan ¹

Affiliations
1 Herbal Research Lab, Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga, Mumbai-400 019, IN

Abstract

Heavy metals as environmental contaminants of terrestrial ecosystems is not a recent phenomenon. As certain plants have a tendency of storing heavy metals from soils, polluted water and atmosphere, heavy metals are a matter of concern in the herbal drugs. Therefore, test for heavy metals is essential for herbal medicines. Fruits of Amalaki (Phyllanthus emblica Linn.), Bibhitaki (Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb. and Haritaki (Terminalia chebula Retz.) are used individually or in combination as Triphala in number of formulations. Triphala and its constituents act as cardio-tonic, control blood pressure, improve blood circulation and reduce cholesterol levels. Because of such wide use of these fruits in various herbal formulations, it is necessary to analyse at least common heavy metals from the raw materials before they can be processed further. To meet the heavy demand for this raw material and due to the easy accessibility, some supply also comes from neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan. In the present paper fruits of Amalaki, Bibhitaki and Haritaki procured from India (Karjat) and Nepal (Baghlongh) were analysed for five heavy metals Cu, Zn, Pb and Hg by Optical Emission Spectroscopy, which uses the technique of inductively coupled plasma. There was a significant variation in the heavy metal content of fruits collected from India and Nepal.

Keywords

Medicinal Plants, Triphala, ICP-OES Technique, Heavy Metals.

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Sunita Shailajan ¹, Smruti Shah ¹

Affiliations
1 Herbal Research Lab, Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai-400 019, Maharashtra, IN

Abstract

The analysis of heavy metals of medicinal plants is an important criteria of their standardisation. Various mineral elements occur in plant and animal tissues in such minute amounts that early workers were unable to measure their precise concentration with analytical methods then available. They were, therefore, described as occurring in trace quantity. The practice is still followed despite the development of modern analytical laboratory techniques such as atomic absorption spectroscopy and neutron activation analysis, which have an ability to measure all trace elements in the smallest of biological samples with great precision and accuracy. Four common heavy metals Pb, Zn, Cu and Ni were analysed in a medicinal plant Swertia densiflora (Griscb.) Kashyap by optical emission spectroscopy which uses the technique of inductively coupled plasma. The increased circulation of toxic metals in soils and plants may result in the inevitable buildup of such toxins in food chains. The results of the study indicate that the concentration of copper ranged from 7.10-9.25, zinc from 36.25-71.02, lead from 6.69-13.74 and nickel from < 1.0-4.46 in Swertia densiflora.

Keywords

ICP-Oes Technique, Heavy Metals, Swertia Densiflora, Medicinal Plants.

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Kapil M. Dalvi ¹, Vikas V. Vaidya ¹, M. B. Kekare ¹, Sunita Shailajan ¹, Ashish A. Pawar ¹

Affiliations
1 Industrial Co-ordination Centre, S. P. Mandali’s Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga, Mumbai-400 019, IN

Abstract

Most herbal medicines, analysed for heavy metals, are found to be having higher concentration of one or more elements. Therefore, limit tests of heavy metals are essential for herbal medicines. There is also a need for heavy metal analysis to be an integral part of the standardization of herbal medicines. Mallotus philippensis is a plant distributed nearly throughout India. Mallotus philippensis, used for present study, has many pharmacological activities of which antibacterial, immunoregulatory, antifungal and anti-inflammatory activity are important. Eight heavy metals, lead, zinc, copper, chromium, iron, arsenic, cadmium and nickel were analysed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS).

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