Heavy Metal Analysis of the leaf extracts of some Indian Medicinal Plants from Western Maharashtra

Abstract

The investigation of heavy metals in herbal products is widely interesting in many countries over the world (China, India, Turkey, Poland, Germany, Australia etc.), where the herbal products have been used as “scientific medicines”. The heavy metal content of medicinal herb products is commonly studied from the viewpoint of toxicity and bioavailability. Heavy metals can be hazardous to human and animal health and thus their content in plants used for consumption or medicinal purposes must be limited and checked. For this reason upper limits for heavy metals have been set for foodstuffs and medicinal products by health authorities. In general, all medicinal products for human and animal use must meet regulatory guidelines for quality, safety, and efficacy. Heavy metal analysis of the extracts of leaves ofAegle marmelos (L.)Correa, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Annona squamosa Linn, Moringa oleifera Lam. and other plant parts of Musa paradisiaca L. andPunicagranatum L. was undertaken. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the extracts of the leaves and other plant parts of above mentioned medicinal plants showed no risk of heavy metal toxicity as most of the heavy metals analysed in these plant parts were well within the permissible levels, except for Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. which showed slightly higher levels of Chromium.