Thermoanalytical, chemical and principal component analysis of plant drugs.

Thermal decomposition and elemental content of commercial raw plant materials used in medicine-roots, rhizomes and bark originating from different medicinal plant species were analyzed. The thermal decomposition was performed using the derivatograph. The content of non-metallic (N, P, S, Cl, I and B) and metallic (Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) elements was determined by spectrophotometric techniques after previous mineralization of samples. In order to obtain more clear classification of the analyzed plant materials principal component analysis (PCA) was applied. Interpretation of PCA results for three databases (thermoanalytical, non-metals and metals data sets) allows the statement that samples of roots, rhizomes and bark from the same plant species in majority of cases are characterized by similar elemental composition and similar course of their thermal decomposition. In this way the differences in general chemical composition of medicinal plants raw materials can be determined.