Browsing by Author "Derbie Awraris"

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    Investigation of the Levels of Selected Metals in the Leaves of Thyme (T. Schimperi and T. Vulgaris) Grown in Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa Universty, 2009-06) Derbie Awraris; Chandravanshi B.S. (Professor)
    The contents of some selected metals Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni, Cu, Co and Cd in different thyme leaf samples readily consumed in Ethiopia were determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) after acid digestion with 1:1 HNO3/HClO4 for 3 h at a temperature of 240 0C by a Kjeldahl apparatus hot plate digester. The level of the nutrients in the four samples ranged from 1239 – 2517 μg/g, Ca; 1524 – 1786 μg/g, Mg; 728 – 2517 μg/g, Fe; 37.7 – 114 μg/g, Mn; 8.7 – 52 μg/g, Zn; 9.83 – 14.2 μg/g, Ni; 7.69 – 9.3 μg/g, Cu; 2.59 – 4.3 μg/g, Co; and 0.87 – 1.3 μg/g, Cd; respectively. The concentration of Ca was higher than the other metals in the three samples and Cd was the least of all the metals in the analyzed samples. The over all reproducibility of the method obtained from spiking experiment was with in the range ± 10 % except for Fe (± 11.91 %), Cd (± 10.89 %) and Co (± 10.84 %). This result will complement available data on food composition in Ethiopia. Key words: Thyme leaves, Metals, Debresina, Wondogenet, Ethiopia, FAAS.