Essential and toxic elements in three Pakistan's medicinal fruits (Punica granatumZiziphus jujuba and Piper cubeba) analysed by INAA

Abstract

Three important medicinal fruits generally used by the people of Pakistan for the treatment of different diseases have been studied for their mineral contents. Twenty-two major and minor trace elements (essential, toxic and non-essential) were identified in Punica granatum (pomegranate), Ziziphus jujuba (jujube) and Piper cubeba L. (cubeb) by employing instrumental neutron activation analysis technique. The studied medicinal herbs are a good source of the essential elements while toxic elements are found in trace amounts. K is detected as a major element in pomegranate, jujube and cubeb with respective values of 1.20%, 1.18% and 2.01%. Pomegranate has significant concentrations of Na, Zn, Cr and Se; jujube has high Cl, Zn, Mn and Co contents while cubeb is a good source of K and Fe. The baseline data presented in this work can be used in understanding the role of mineral elements in nutritive, preventive and therapeutic properties of medicinal herbs.

Keywords::

• essential elements
• instrumental neutron activation analysis
• medicinal herbs
• Piper cubeba L
• Punica granatum Linn
• toxic elements
• Ziziphus jujuba

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank the technical assistance of Mr. A. K. Rana. We are also grateful to the Reactor Operation Group for arranging the neutron irradiation of the samples.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.