Level of Essential and Non-Essential Metals in Gesho (Rhamnus prinoides) Cultivated in Ethiopia
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Date
2011-06
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Rhamnus prinoides leaves and stems have been used for bitterness of local alcoholic beverages in
Ethiopia for several hundreds of years and as traditional medicine in some African countries like
Kenya and South Africa; never the less, level of essential and non-essential elements of this plant
has not been conducted so far. Thus, this study has assessed the level of essential (Mg, Ca, Cr, Mn,
Fe, Co, Cu and Zn) and non-essential elements (Cd and Pb) of R. prinoides leaves and stems
cultivated in Ethiopia using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. The solutions for the analysis
of the metals in leaf and stem mentioned above were prepared by the carefully optimized mixture
of HNO3, H2O2 and HClO4 reagents using wet digestion with a reflux condenser. The efficiency of
the optimized procedure was validated by spiking experiment and the percent of recovery for all
the metals was (92-103 for leaf samples and 91-103 for the stem samples). The concentrations of
all the metals mentioned above were analyzed and the concentrations were reported in (mg/kg)
except the concentration of chromium at Simche zala in stem sample, the concentrations of
cadmium in stem samples at two sample sites (Kesatyebirhan ,Gedga Amba and Migra) and the
concentrations of lead in stem at all sample sites were below the method detection limit and hence
were not reported. The concentrations of the metals found were: Mg (3202–4622), Ca (6304–
22236), Cd (0.81–3.10), Cr (5.10–18.7), Mn (8.12–20.6), Fe (47.9–187), Co (22.2–42.1), Ni (12.8–
27.3), Cu (6.5–73.0), Zn (12.2–43), Pb (17.7–25.0) in leaf samples and Mg (2635–5528), Ca
(3601–5675), Cd (1.00–1.56), Cr (5.42–16.3), Mn (2.16–3.82), Fe (22.0–124), Co (18.7–91.7), Ni
(9.68–19.2), Cu (16.6–233) and Zn (17.4–28.2) in stem samples.
Key words: Rhamnus prinoides, Gesho, Leaf, Stem, Minerals, Flame atomic absorption
spectroscopy, Local alcoholic beverages, Medicinal uses, Wet digestion
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Keywords
Rhamnus prinoides; Gesho; Leaf; Stem, Minerals; Flame atomic absorption Spectroscopy; Local alcoholic beverages; Medicinal uses; Wet digestion