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Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Trace elements content in the selected medicinal plants traditionally used for curing skin diseases by the natives of Mizoram, India

Open Access
Document heading

Trace elements content in the selected medicinal plants traditionally used for curing skin diseases by the natives of Mizoram, India

Open Access funded by Hainan Medical College
Under a Creative Commons license

Abstract

Objective

To determine the trace elements content in the selected medicinal plants, namely, Eryngium foetidum L., Mimosa pudica L., Polygonum plebeium, and Prunus cerasoides D. Don traditionally used by the natives of the Mizoram, one of the north eastern states in India as their folklore medicines for curing skin diseases like eczema, leg and fingers infection, swelling and wound.

Methods

A 3 MeV proton beam of proton induced X-ray emission technique, one of the most powerful techniques for its quick multi elemental trace analysis capability and high sensitivity was used to detect and characterized for trace elements.

Results

The studies revealed that six trace elements, namely, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, V, and Co detected in mg/L unit were present in varying concentrations in the selected medicinal plants with high and notable concentration of Fe, Zn, Mn and appreciable amount of the Cu, Co and V in all the plants.

Conclusions

The results of the present study support the therapeutic usage of these medicinal plants in the traditional practices for curing skin diseases since they are found to contain appreciable amount of the Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, V and Co.

Keywords

  • Medicinal plants; 
  • Traditional practices; 
  • Trace elements; 
  • Skin diseases; 
  • Proton induced X-ray emission;
  • Mizoram