Characterization of two South American Food and Medicinal plants by Chemometric methods based on their Multielemental Composition

CANTARELLI, M. A.; PELLERANO, R.G.; DEL VITTO, L. A.; CAMIÑA, J.M.; MARCHEVSKY, E.J.

PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS

JOHN WILEY & SONS

Lugar: Chichester; Año: 2010 vol. 21 p. 550 - 555

0958-0344

Introduction - The chemometric characterization of two plants, frequently used as foodand medicinal species, Achyrocline satureioides and Achyrocline venosa(Asteraceae:Gnaphalieae), was carried out based on their mineral composition. Bothspecies, known by the common name of “marcelas”, are very similar in theirmorphological features but they have different medicinal and food properties.Objective - To develop multivariate models for the classification of A. satureiodes andA. venosa based on their mineral content.Methodology - The analytic determinations were made by means of inductivelycoupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) from aerial parts of theplants. An internal standard was used to evaluate the accuracy in the sample treatmentand the recovery of toxic elements was studied. The multivariate methods used includePrincipal Components Analysis (PCA), Cluster Analysis (CA) and Linear DiscriminantAnalysis (LDA).Results - Classification for both A. satureioides and A. venosa was successful in allcases using only four variables: aluminum, iron, magnesium and sulfur content. Theconcentrations of the following elements are informed: Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu,Fe, K, La, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sr, Ti, V, Y and Zn.Conclusions - This method is useful to identify both species in raw material in order todetect eventual errors of selection.