EFFECT OF REGIONAL VARIATION ON HEAVY METAL CONTENT OF CYNODON DACTYLON (L.) PERS. USING ICP-AES TECHNIQUE

摘要

Most herbal medicines analysed for heavy metals are found to have higher concentrations 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 standardisation of herbal medicines. Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. is a perennial creeping herb found almost all over India and has many pharmacological activities of which diuretic, antidiabetic, antimicrobial and wound healing are a few to be named. Five common heavy metals, Fe, Cr, Zn, Cu and Ni were analysed by Atomic Emission Spectroscopy, which uses the technique of Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP-AES).