Abstract Honey is a food of nutritional, medicinal and commercial importance. The physicochemical characteristics, pollen spectrum and mineral composition of eighteen honey samples obtained from regions (Cachoeira, Coqueiros, Maragojipe and Santiago do Iguape) near the Paraguaçu River, Bahia, Brazil were evaluated. Botanical families Asteraceae, Leguminosae, Malvaceae, Myrtaceae and Palmae were most frequently found. Five samples had water contents above the maximum limit established by the Brazilian legislation (> 20%). The mineral composition was determined by ICP OES, after microwave digestion. Ca, K, Mg and Na were measured (mg Kg-1) in the range from: 18.85 to 79.61; 366.74 to 1214.98; 12.46 to 44.59 and 11.56 to 85.39, respectively. Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn had variable concentration ranges, between 0.05 and 6.13 mg Kg-1. Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, Se and V showed values below the LOD. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) demonstrated that there are no similarities of mineral composition among honey samples.

In this study, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) was used for multi-element analysis in five multimineral preparations from a dissolution test, in accordance with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP 34 method): apparatus 1, 75 rpm and 900 mL of 0.1 mol L-1 HCl. Element releases in all samples (minimum-maximum in %) were: Ca (14.5-28.2), Cr (54.5-68.0), Cu (2.9-10.0), Fe (4.0-34.3), Mg (6.0-25.2), Mn (2.6-51.2), V (0.0-51.4) and Zn (1.5-107.3). The concentrations of Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Mo, Pb and Se were below the limit of detection of ICP OES. Accuracy was assessed by microwave digestion and recovery values of 94-102%. USP 34 method indicates that not less than 75% of the elements described on the product label must be dissolved in 1 h. Only the release of Zn met the recommendations. The results indicated the need for greater quality control in multivitamin preparations. The dissolution test was validated in order to contribute to Brazilian and other pharmacopoeias.

In this study, the elemental composition of nine medicinal plants and phytomedicines was evaluated by using axial view inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) after three digestion procedures: dry ashing (DA) and two wet digestions with a mineral acid (HNO3/H2O2) mixture on a conventional hot plate (CD), besides microwave digestion (MW). Accuracy was assessed from spinach leaves (CRM 1570a) and recovery values were in the range of 82 to 113.8%. Precisions, such as relative standard deviation (RSD), below 10% were reached. The MW procedure was preferred for its accuracy (recovery values of 94 to 102%), reduced contamination, increase in the efficiency of the decomposition process, lower residual acidity and reduced time required for digestion. The concentrations of analytes in the samples (minimum-maximum in μg g-1) were: Ca (100.71-462.20), Co (0.54-0.85), Cu (0.32-7.82), Fe (2.74-18.03), Mg (18.40-521.28), Mn (0.17-55.14), Ni (0.56-1.25) and Zn (2.96-20.92). The levels of Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Mo, Pb, Se and V in all investigated samples were found to be below the limit of detection of ICP OES. The multielement analysis by ICP OES showed that the method is simple, fast and reliable for the multielement determination in medicinal plants and phytomedicines.