Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis Studia Naturae (Dec 2016)
Investigation of microelements contents in aerial parts of Agrimonia eupatoria L., collected in Lviv region (Ukraine)
Abstract
The genus Agrimonia L. of the family Rosaceae Juss. is known to include valuable medicinal plants. Agrimony is well known for its beneficial effects in various diseases such as liver complaints, gall-bladder stones; diarrhea, edemas and kidney ailments. The contents of microelements in aerial parts of Agrimonia eupatoria, an official herbal drug, collected from wild samples in the suburb of Lviv city, Western Ukraine, have been determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy with electrothermal atomization (ААС/ЕА) on VARIAN AA 240Z after mineralization in the microwave Milestone Start D. The found quantities of trace elements in the analyzed samples were as follows: manganese – 46.9 µg/g, copper – 7.9 µg/g, selenium – 0.16 µg/g, lead – 0.15 µg/g, cadmium – 0.05 µg/g. The received research outcomes were compared with results of other known scientific investigations of the medicinal plant material. The determined amounts of lead and cadmium in the investigated samples of the herbal drug complied with the World Health Organization (WHO) requirements. The special attention is paid for pharmacological effects, related to its renal impact, contents of selenium and phenolic compounds that allows considering the herbal drug as a promising nephroprotective agent.
