ELEMENTS, BROMIDES, NITRATES IN ARBUTIN-CONTAINING HERBAL MEDICINES

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.29296/25419218-2018-07-04
Issue: 
7
Year: 
2018

A.V. Nikulin, M.V. Okuneva, O.G. Potanina, R.A. Abramovich People’s Friendship University of Russia; 6, Miklukho-Maklai St., Moscow 117198, Russian Federation

Introduction. A set of many elements, bromides, and nitrates contained in the medicines can have toxic effects on the human body. This is also true for the elements that are traditionally considered essential, but are present at high concentrations in herbal medicines. The level of bromides and nitrates is currently not normalized; however, it is an important indicator of the good quality of raw materials. Objective: to determine the levels of arbutin, elements, bromides, and nitrates in herbal medicines. Material and methods. The investigation objects were industrial samples of plant products and biological active additives (BAAs), which contain arbutin, such as manzanita (Arctostaphylos) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) leaves, one-sided wintergreen (Ortilia secunda) and pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbrellata) herbs, fermented bergenia leaves (Chigirsky tea), and bergenia rhizomes. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS), and ionometry were used. Results. Six herbal medicines that had been found to contain 9 essential and toxic elements were investigated. The content of essential trace elements was established to be much less than the recommended daily BAA intake, but 1.5–3 times more than that in the fruits and vegetables, which are most rich in relevant elements. All the samples were found to have increased aluminum concentrations. The level of nitrates in all the analyzed samples considerably exceeded the normal values established for leafy vegetables. Conclusion. For the safe use of herbal medicines that contain arbutin, it is necessary to normalize their content of not only cadmium, lead, arsenic, and mercury, as required in the SP of the Russian Federation, 13th edition, but also to establish standards for other toxic elements, such as aluminum and barium, which is now not underway. Further investigations are needed to study the transition of nitrates into finished dosage forms in order to determine limits for possible nitrate content in plant substances. The herb of one-sided wintergreen, a promising medicinal plant raw material with potential sedative properties, was found to contain high bromide levels.
Keywords: 
manzanita (Arctostaphylos) leaves
lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) leaves
one-sided wintergreen (Ortilia secunda) herb and pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbrellata) herb
fermented bergenia leaves
bergenia rhizomes
elements
bromides
nitrates
content
inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry
electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry
ionometry
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