Levels of Essential and Non-Essential Metals in Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) Cultivated in Ethiopia
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Date
2010-07
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is one of the most widely used spices that contain
several interesting bioactive constituents. Ginger has numerous health benefits and has
been reported to possess antioxidant, antiseptic, anticarcinogenic, and antifungal,
properties. In the present study, the level of essential (Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Co, Cr, Mn, and
Ni) and non-essential elements (Cd and Pb) in ginger cultivated in Ethiopia (particularly in
Tepi, Bombae, Hadaro and Ilubabur) and the soil where it has grown were determined by
flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The optimized wet digestion procedure was
evaluated using standard addition (spiking) method and an acceptable percentage recovery
was obtained 93-106 and 93-107 for the metals in ginger and soil samples respectively
except chromium in ginger. 0.5 g of oven dried ginger sample was digested using 3 mL of
HNO3 and 1 mL of HClO4 at 210 oC for 3 h and 0.5 g dried soil sample was digested with
reagent mixture of 6 mL aqua-regia and 1.5 mL H2O2 at 270 oC for 3 h. The mean metal
concentration ( g/g dry weight basis) ranges in ginger and soil samples respectively are:
Ca (2001-2543, 1773-3583), Mg (2700-4094, 1457-2442), Fe (41.8- 89.0, 21701-46950),
Zn (38.5-55.2, 255-412), Cu (1.1-4.8, 3.8-33.9), Co (2.0-7.6, 48.5-159), Cr (6.0-10.8, 110-
163), Mn (184-401, 1756-6465), Ni (5.6-8.4, 14.1-79.3) and Cd (0.38-0.97, 0.24-1.1).
However, Pb was not detected in both ginger and soil samples. A statistical analysis of
variance (ANOVA) at 95% confidence level was used to test whether the variation
between the mineral content of four sample means were significant or not. The Pearson
correlation was used to predict the dependence of metal levels on one another.
Key words: Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Essential elements, Non-essential elements,
Flame Atomic absorption spectrophotometer.
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Keywords
Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Essential elements, Non-essential elements, Flame Atomic absorption spectrophotometer