Evaluation of mineral content of Chinese medicinal herbs used to improve kidney function with chemometrics

Mineral elemental concentrations of 50 Chinese medicinal herbs in acid digests were determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. The data were subjected to chemometric assessment to understand the association between the elements and to classify the herbal samples. Chemometric techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used as classification techniques. PCA generated two principal components that explained 62% of the total variance in the data. HCA disclosed two significant groups of samples based on their elemental concentrations.

Research highlights
► Evaluation of categories of commonly used Chinese herbs in relation to kidney function.
► These analyses give valuable information with respect to safety and nutrition.
► Results provide scientific evidence for these Chinese herbs commonly used in clinical practice.
► The scientific data could improve the current practise of herbal selection for kidney function.
► This research helps related health practitioners to select organic sources for mineral supplements.