RESUMEN
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate six trace elements including Cr, Zn, Mn, Se, Cu and V of 13 traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) commonly used in diet therapy of diabetes mellitus.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The samples were prepared through digesting in a microwave oven and determined with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The correlative coefficients of the calibration curves were above 0.999. Standard addition recovery was 88.7% - 110.0% and RSD < or = 7.0%. Under the given analytical conditions, the results obtained showed that the contents of the six trace elements varied in these TCM samples, for element Cr, ranging between 0-11.82 microg x g(-1), Mn in 4.36-564.3 microg x g(-1), Cu in 0.55-13.34 microg x g(-1), Zn in 3.19-86.23 microg x g(-1) Se in 0-0.39 microg x g(-1) and V in 0.05-12.04 microg x g(-1), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The possible relationship between the content of the six trace elements and 13 TCM samples for dietetic therapy of diabetes mellitus was also discussed.</p>