Open AccessELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF HERBAL TEAS STUDIED BY INSTRUMENTAL NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANAL-YSIS AND ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY
Author(s) -
Yuliya Valer'yevna Lavrinenko,
Anna Maratovna Plieva,
Gergana Yancheva Khristozova,
Marina Frontasyeva,
Inga Zin'kovskaya,
Kirill Tkachenko
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
himiâ rastitelʹnogo syrʹâ
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.2
H-Index - 6
eISSN - 1029-5151
pISSN - 1029-5143
DOI - 10.14258/jcprm.2020037428
Subject(s) - neutron activation analysis , chemistry , atomic absorption spectroscopy , composition (language) , chemical composition , human health , environmental chemistry , herbal tea , traditional medicine , food science , antioxidant , radiochemistry , biochemistry , medicine , linguistics , physics , philosophy , environmental health , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
The plants that make up herbal tea have a complex chemical composition and can be related to drug collections and have various pharmacological properties that affect human health. In addition to organic acids, vitamins, flavonoids, essential oils, the medicinal properties of plants are affected by macro- and microelements included in their composition. Macronutrients and microelements determine the medicinal properties of plants, are substances necessary for human growth and normal development. The composition of seven herbal teas developed in the scientific center of the North Ossetian State University after K.L. Khetagurov, each of which contains from 3 to 8 plant components was analyzed. Plant material was collected in the summer of 2018 in the mountainous and foothill areas of North Ossetia (Central Caucasus). Using instrumental neutron activation analysis and atomic absorption spectrometry, the presence and determination of 37 elements was carried out for the first time in herbal teas (Na, Mg, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Mo, In, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Sm, Tb, Hf, Ta, W, Au, Th, and U). The results are discussed in terms of using the studied herbal teas as a safe source of trace elements. Herbal teas can be used as functional foods that are not a drug, but replenish the human body with important compounds and elements that have a definite positive effect on the body.