title: [Study on 11 metal [correction of mental] element contents in Dendrobium officinale].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To find out the variation of 11 mental element contents in Dendrobium officinale with different germplasms and harvesting ages, the results can provide scientific basis for the quality evaluation and the breeding of D. officinale.
  
  
  METHODS
  32 samples with 1-3 ages were collected from cultivated fields of Zhejiang and 11 samples were collected from markets. The 11 mental element contents of samples were determined by ICP-MS or AAS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average contents of K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn, Cr, and Cu were 1,205.23, 766.82, 158.25, 31.06, 4.28, 8.28, and 0.97 mg x kg(-1), the contents of As, Hg, Pb, and Cd were all in limits except Cd content of one sample exceeded the standard limit 0.07 mg x kg(-1); germplasms and physiological ages impacted mental elements contents accumulation significantly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were rich essential mental elements in D. officinale. D. officinale from Zhejiang province and medical materials from market were all safe; the breeding of D. officinale can increase the contents of essential mental elements and reduce contents of heavy mental elements; the effect of physiological age on metal elements contents was related to each element's physiological and biochemical function.
authors.affiliation: A Nurturing Station for the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Research and Development Centre for of Natural Medicines, Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, Lin'an 311300, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Guodong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Bowei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Ailian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jinping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Si
mesh_terms: D031667:Dendrobium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D008670:Metals