Preetha P.S. Navya Lal S. and Gowtham Sunil
Abstract
Plants have always been the main constituents of traditional systems of medicines. Ipomoea L. is the largest genus in the family Convolvulaceae Juss. It has been widely used as herbal drug by folklores which signify its broad application in several fields. The present study includes elemental analysis of nine selected species of Ipomoea L. using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Elemental composition of whole plant has been determined by using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. A total of seven elements Fe+2, Mn+2, Cu+3, Cr+3, Zn+2, Ni+3 and Pb+4 have been measured. Ipomoea L. species include Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet, Ipomoea nil (L.) Roth, Ipomoea pes-tigridis L., Ipomoea triloba L., Ipomoea quamoclit L. Ipomoea aquatica. Forsk , Ipomoea hederifolia L., Ipomoea pes-carpae (L.) R.Br and Ipomoea obscura (L.) Ker. Gawl. The result of the analysis showed that Fe+2, Zn+2,Cr+3 & Ni+3 content is high in Ipomoea hederifolia L. as compared to other species whereas Mn+2, Zn+2 and Cu+3 content is low in Ipomoea pes-carpae (L.) R.Br. as compared to other species.