Determination of trace element contaminants in herbal teas using ICP-MS by different sample preparation method

S Kilic; M Soylak

doi:10.1007/s13197-019-04125-6

Determination of trace element contaminants in herbal teas using ICP-MS by different sample preparation method

J Food Sci Technol. 2020 Mar;57(3):927-933. doi: 10.1007/s13197-019-04125-6. Epub 2019 Oct 15.

Authors

S Kilic¹, M Soylak²

Affiliations

¹ 1Food Safety and Agricultural Research Center, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey.
² 2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Erciyes University, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey.

Abstract

In recent years, the consumption rate of herbal teas has increased rapidly. In this study, 28 different plants (fennel, linden, roots, chamomile, green tea, thyme, sage, rosemary, rosehip, ginger, balm, echinacea, blue tea etc.) used as herbal tea bags and leaves/flowers. Different types of herbal tea were prepared keeping boiling water in contact for ten min with herbal teas and were digested with HNO₃ and H₂O₂ in a microwave oven. In these samples, trace element concentrations (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Se, V, Zn) were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. The analytical performances were assessed as linearity, the limit of detection, limit of quantification, specificity/selectivity and recovery (%). The recovery values changed between 88 and 112%.

Keywords: Herbal teas; Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS); Sample preparation; Trace element determination.