MINERAL PROFILE IN Tripodanthus flagelaris INFUSIONS

GIMÉNEZ, CECILIA; HIDALGO, MELISA JAZMÍN; DEL VITTO, LUIS A.; MARCHEVSKY, EDUARDO JORGE; FURLONG, OCTAVIO JAVIER; PELLERANO, R. G.

Potrero de los Funes

Congreso; XXX Encuentro Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2012

Tripodanthus flagellaris (Cham. & Schlecht.) Tiegh. –Loranthaceae– is a hemiparasitic plant used in folk medicine for its putative hypotensive properties. This plant is normally consumed as an infusion. The concentrations of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn elements in twenty two samples of medicinal herb, prepared as infusion, were determined by using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The samples were digested with concentrated nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a microwave system. The aim of this work was to determine the nutritional value, in terms of these minor element contents, using recommended daily allowance data. Additionally, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were applied to the data matrix to evaluate analytical results. The decreasing sequence of the mean metal levels in the infusions was as follow: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Cr. The average total contents (mg per liter of infusion) were 82.3 for Fe, 19.8 for Mn, 17.3 for Zn, 2.8 for Cu and 0.25 for Cr. These results are in agreement with values previously reported in the literature.