Determination of Levels of Selected Metals In the Leaves ‘Tena Adam’ (Ruta Chalepensis L.) Collected From Four Selected Areas Around Addis Ababa
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Date
2018-04-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In this research, leaf samples of Tena Adam were randomly collected from four selected areas around Addis Ababa. After proper sample pretreatment, the volumes of reagents used, digestion temperature and digestion time were optimized and using the optimized conditions the levels of metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The accuracy and precision of the optimized procedure was evaluated by analyzing the digest of the spiked samples and the percentage recoveries obtained varied from 96.7 to 96.9%. The levels of metals determined in mg/kg dry weight were in the ranges Ca (1872–3077), Zn (44.5–64.0), Cu (ND–10.8), Cr (ND–3.10) and Cd (ND–2.87). Ca (3077 mg/kg) and Cr (1.20 mg/kg) were found to be the highest and the least concentration among the metals, respectively and metals Ni and Pb were below the detection limit of the instrument in all sample areas. ANOVA at 95% confidence level indicated that there is a significant difference in the level of Ca and no significant difference in the levels of Cr, Cu and Zn in all the samples and the results of Pearson correlation revealed that there is weak and/or moderate positive correlation between metals with each other. The results indicate that the content of most of the metals are comparable to the permissible amount for medicinal plants which form the raw materials for the finished products set by WHO and FAO and other literature.
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Ruta Chalepensis L, Rue, Tena Adam, Metals, Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, Ethiopia