Simultaneous analysis of 18 mineral elements in Cyclocarya paliurus polysaccharide by ICP-AES

The contents of 18 kinds of mineral elements in Cyclocarya paliurus polysaccharide samples were determined by ICP-AES. The limits of detection (LOD) of the method for 18 elements were in the range of 0.01–3.80 mg/kg. The average recoveries obtained by the standard addition method were found between 94.34% and 105.69% (RSD, 1.01–4.23%). The results showed that C. paliurus polysaccharides were abundant in major and trace elements which are healthy for human body. The contents of Ca, Al, Mg, K, Fe, Mn and P were very high, ranging from 274.5 ± 10.3 to 5980.0 ± 102.7 mg/kg, while the contents of Zn, Na, Se, Cr, Pb, Cu and As ranged from 0.9 ± 0.1 to 37.1 ± 4.2 mg/kg. Finally, the levels of Ni, Cd, V and Co were not detected in the samples. ICP-AES is a simple, precise and efficient method for the determination of many mineral elements in polysaccharide samples simultaneously.