Estimation of inorganic constituents in the seeds of blue and white flowering capitulum of <i>Silybum marianum</i>

Abstract

Silybum Marianum commonly known as milk thistle contains flavonolignans, collectively known as silymarin. The main components of silymarin are silybine, isosilybine, silychristin and silydinine. This study was aimed to estimate inorganic constituents in blue and white capitulum’s seeds from different areas of KPK. Concentration of Na was found to be high (6 mg/kg) in white capitulum seeds from Karak area, while K concentration was high (6 mg/kg) in the blue capitulum seeds from Khyber agency. High concentration of Ca (20 mg/kg) was seen in both white and blue capitulum’s seeds of Khyber agency. Less concentration of NO₃ (0.09 mg/kg) was detected in white capitulum seeds from Kohat district and high concentration of SO₄ (22.14 mg/kg) was recorded in blue capitulum seeds collected from Peshawar.

Key words: Silybum marianum, capitulum’s seeds, inorganic profile.