Trace element status of plant for standardizing of herb raw material

Introduction. Standardizing herb raw material which guarantees the reproducibility of the quality of phytomedicines is important procedure for plants sources having multicomponent composition of biologically active compounds. The trace element composition plants is determined primarily by the species of the plant like as biological compound composition. The formed cluster of high-quality herb raw material should differ significantly from the non-quality one. Objective: Assess the possibility of using clusters of trace element statuses for standardization of phytomedicine «Thymi serpyllii herba». Material and methods. The above-ground shoots of Thymus vulgaris L., Th. serpyllum L., Th. marschallianus Willd., Th. iljinii Klokov & Des.-Shost., and Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. In addition, the objects of the study were: a phytomedicine from pharmacy assortment «Thymi serpyllii herba» (as a reference drug) and created mixtures of thyme and ziziphora as samples that did not meet the requirements of the standard. The content of trace elements was determined by mass spectroscopy with inductively coupled plasma. Results. It was established samples of wild thyme and pharmacy phytomedicine which was taken as a standard, form one cluster that is different from the others. At the same time, raw materials Th. serpyllum with an adulterant of Ziziphora clinopodioides fall into clusters different from the cluster of quality samples of Th. serpyllum. Conclusion. As a result of the work carried out, it was established that the trace element composition of plants allows, using the method of cluster analysis, to form a certain reference cluster.