Correlation of Metal Ions and Phenolic Compounds in Tea Infusions of Medicinal Plants

摘要

A quantitative analysis of phenolics, flavonoids and mineral species of Al, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ca, Cr, Na, K and Mg was performed in aqueous infusions from medicinal plants using the spectrophotometric techniques in the visible and atomic absorption spectrometry, respectively. Principal component analysis was performed to identify groups of samples and correlations between variables. The mineral content in herbal infusions showed variability among the types of plants. However, distribution of the elements in the infusions is not high and it is nil especially for Cd, Cr and Pb. The aqueous infusions do not show antimicrobial activity againt some microorganisms of importance in food. The concentrations of organic compounds ranged from 0.66-2.33 mg g-1 for flavonoids and 3.35-9.00 mg g-1 for phenolic acids.