Abstract
Mineral concentrations for Brassica tounefortii and Artemisia Campestris L have been detected using four digestion methods to prepare herbal samples. These mineral’s include Ca, Mg, K, Na, P, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb and Cd which are measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and flame photometer. Regardless of the digestion procedures, Ca, K, Mg, Na, and Fe as macronutrients are found to be in the major level in these plants. Zn has the highest concentration followed by Cu and Mn. While, Ni was shown to be at a low concentration. Pb as a toxic element was existing in a relatively moderate concentration. In addition, the microminerals Cr, Co and the toxic element, Cd, were under a detection limit. Statistical (PCA, PLS-DA HCA and Boxplot) data indicates that there is a significant difference between the extraction method and other digestion methods. These differences could arise from the ability of water extracting only soluble minerals. In the meantime, the (HNO3/HClO4) digestion procedure has the superiority over other digestion procedures. The boxplot data also reveals the significant differences according to the mineral composition. For instance, these plants have a significant variance in the concentrations of Ca, Na, K, Fe and Mn. While there is a small significant variance between these herbals in terms of Zn and Mg.