Evaluation of the health safety of medicinal plants
2008
Milovanović, I., Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad (Serbia) | Beljkaš, B., Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad (Serbia) | Matić, J., Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad (Serbia) | Kevrešan, Ž., Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad (Serbia) | Mišan, A., Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad (Serbia) | Sakač, M., Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad (Serbia) | Psodorov, Đ., Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad (Serbia)
Herbs and spices have been added to foods since ancient times, not only for the purpose of achieving desired aroma, but also for their traditionally known medicinal and food-preserving properties. In recent years, great attention is being given to medicinal plants as an important source of biologically active compounds which have shown antioxidative, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects. Usage of medicinal herbs as components of functional foods is limited by potential presence of harmful pollutants and microorganisms in plant materials. In this study, we have evaluated the health safety of certain medicinal plants and spices. The following plants were used as materials: Rhamnus frangula, Mentha x piperita L., Carum carvi L., Petroselinum crispum, Origanum vulgare L., Coriandrum sativum L. i Cynara scolymus, as well as Vitalplant and Gastroherb medicinal plant preparations. The amounts of toxical and microelements were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Considering the sometimes large amounts of pesticides used in agriculture, with known harmful effects on human health, presence of traces of chlorinated pesticides was determined in the mentioned plant materials. Evaluation of health safety also included microbiological analysis of the materials and determining the presence of certain strains of bacteria, moulds and yeasts.
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