Abstract

Nigella sativa seeds and Terminalia chebula fruits are the concentrated sources of energy and nutrition and are used by indigenous communities in Pakistan to cure various ailments. Despite their widespread use, by people of all age and income groups, no study exists reporting their metal contents and standardization. Current investigation has been designed to explore their metal contents and to establish their identity profiles by using HPLC chromatograms and FTIR fingerprint studies. HPLC studies indicated 5 and 10 peaks indicating possible presence of different compounds in N. sativa seeds and T. chebula fruits, respectively. Fourteen and ten peaks were identified in FTIR fingerprint analysis of N. sativa seeds and T. chebula fruits, respectively. Metal analysis using atomic absorption spectrometer and flame photometer indicated that investigated extracts contained sufficient amounts of important metals like sodium, calcium and iron. Concentration of most of metals in both extracts was in the optimum level as set by regulatory bodies.

Key words: Nigella sativa, Terminalia chebula, FTIR, metal analysis.