Study on mineral elements in Salvia roborwskii from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The contents of trace elements, including aluminum, barium, beryllium, calcium, cobaltium, chromium, copper, iron, potassium, lanthanum, lithium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, nickel, phosphorus, lead, sulfur, silicon, titanium, vanadium, and zinc, were determined by ICP-AES. The mean concentrations of the 22 elements were as follows: K>Ca>Mg>Fe>Al>Na>S>P>Ba>Ti>Mn>Zn>Sr>Cu>Ni=Cr>Pb>V>Li=La>Co>Be. Principal components analysis of SPSS was applied to study the characteristic elements in Salvia roborwskii. Five principal components which accounted for 89.288% of the total variance were extracted from the original data. The first factor accounted for 56.401% of the total variance, which meant that aluminum, barium, beryllium, calcium, and cobaltium were the characteristic elements in S. roborwskii. This useful new method was used to evaluate the quality of S. roborwskii, and to provide the scientific foundation for its utilization and further research.