Determination of Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in the leaves and tea of Arrabidaea chica (Humb. & Bompl.) Verl.

Arrabidaea chica (Humb. & Bompl.) Verl. is an herb popularly used in the treatment of anemia in the Brazilian Amazon region, and little is known about its mineral content. Therefore, the elemental contents of Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn were determined in the dried leaves and tea obtained by decoction and infusion of the three varieties of the medicinal plant using flame atomic absorption spectrometry after acid wet digestion of the samples. In general, the levels of the minerals are in good agreement with other studies involving medicinal plants, and the variety AC2 had the highest concentrations of all elements both in dried leaves and tea. Iron was found to be the most abundant in dried leaves (38.4-115.5 µg g(-1)), whereas manganese had the highest extraction efficiencies both in decoction (56.1-62.7%) and infusion (45.6-63.6%). Additionally, the decoction was more efficient in the extraction of almost all elements. The consumption of the decoction of variety AC2 may contribute to a small proportion to the daily requirements of Mn.