Comparative evaluation of Helichrysi flos herbal extracts as dietary sources of plant polyphenols, and macro- and microelements

The inflorescence of Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench (Helichrysi flos syn. Stoechados flos) has long been known in herbal medicine in Europe for its choleretic, diuretic, antiinflammatory and detoxifying activities. Organic bioactive compounds and the inorganic element content of Helichrysi flos drugs of different origin (from cultivation or from the commercial network) and their water extracts were examined. The polyphenol and flavonoid content in the drug (61.4–92.3 and 9.4–12.7 g kg−1, respectively) and tea samples (1200–1730 and 47–71 mg l−1, respectively) were determined by a spectrophotometric method. The concentration of 23 macro- and microelements was measured in crude drugs and their water extracts by inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP–AES). The cultivated drug sample from 1999 (Hungary) contained aluminum (353 mg kg−1), chromium (6 mg kg−1), copper (19 mg kg−1), manganese (349 mg kg−1) and phosphorus (2907 mg kg−1) in highest level, while the concentration of barium (19 mg kg−1), calcium (7575 mg kg−1), iron (159 mg kg−1), and zinc (59 mg kg−1) was highest in a commercial sample from 1998 (Poland).