Determination of germanium in medicinal plants by atomic absorption spectrometry with electrothermal atomization.

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Abstract
Flameless atomic absorption spectrometry combined with solvent extraction was developed for the determination of Ge in medicinal plants [Ginseng radix]. A wet oxidation procedure using only nitric acid was suitable for ashing plant samples. Carbon tetrachloride and water were used as solvents for extraction and back-extraction. Measurements were carried out after preparing sample solutions in 0.5 M NaOH in order to enhance the sensitivity. This highly sensitive method (detection limit, 1 ppb [part/billion]) was applied to the determination of Ge in some medicinal plants. The analytical results obtained indicate that medicinal plants contain small amounts of Ge; it appeared that there was no connection between the pharmacological effects of medicinal plants and their Ge contents.

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