Toxic element content in commercial yerba mate infusion

This work aimed to quantify the contents via acid digestion and soluble in infusion of the essential elements Ca, Mg, N, Cu, Mn and Zn of the toxic elements Al, Cd and Pb in four brands of yerba mate commercialised in the city of Lages-SC. For the total content, nitro-perchloric digestion was used, according to the Manual of Methods of Tissue Analyses used at Embrapa and for the total N content, the sulphuric digestion method was used. For the infusion, 1.5 g of yerba mate was weighed into 10 ml of deionised water, with a contact time of 10 minutes, at temperatures of 70, 80 and 90 °C. The quantification of the elements was performed in ICP-OES. On average, the highest contents obtained for all elements in infusion was at 70 °C. The nutrients Ca, Mg, N, Cu, Mn and Zn were transferred to the mate. The Cd contents in infusion are above the maximum values allowed by legislation for infusions. However, for Pb content, only the M4 brand is above the permitted.