PIXE FOR ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF DOMESTIC MEDICINAL PLANTS IN BANGLADESH

The medicinal plants are a source of biologically important elements which are necessary both for animals and plants. Present study investigates the concentration of elemental constituents of seven selected medicinally important plants of Bangladesh, namely Terminalia bellirica, Centella asiatica, Pleurotus ostreatus, Curcuma longa, Bombax ceiba and Trigonella foenum-graecum. Appropriately desiccated samples (pellets) of these medicinal plants were bombarded with accelerated proton beam with the help of 3 MV Van de Graff accelerator at accelerator Facilities Division, Atomic Energy Center, Dhaka. Eleven different elements- P, S, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Cd and I were detected by collecting the harvested X-rays with [Si(Li)] detector. Data collection and analysis were performed using Maestro-32 and GUPIX software.