+443308187254Getaw Ayele, Kusse Gudishe
The study of traditional medicinal plants attracted concerns of many researchers because they are not rigorously regulated. On the other hands, their potentiality for medicine use is still predominant in different part of the world today. In this study, heavy metals (copper, zinc, nickel and lead) concentrations were determined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy in three traditional medicinal plants: Ziziphus spina-christi, Ximenia americana, and Withania somnifera in northern part of Ethiopia. Microwave digestion procedure was applied under optimized conditions for digesting medicinal herbs. All the four heavy metals have been detected in this experiment. Results revealed that two of the investigated medicinal plants Ziziphus spina-christi and Winthania somnifera have showed concentrations within permissible levels for all the elements. The concentration of lead in Ximenia americana indicated a potential health risk to consumers in area as it was observed to be 55.20 ± 0.01 ppm
Share this article