Abstract: Twenty-one mineral elements of Halenia corniculata and H.elliptica were tested by ICP-OES in this study.H.corniculata and H.elliptica are the only existing species of genus Halenia (family:Gentianaceae) distributed in China.According to dates,the correlation coefficients are all greater than 0.9990,which showed a good linearity.The recovery rates were in the range of 86%-106% and the RSD were all below 4.35%,which indicated good accuracy and precision.The results showed that both of them contained rich mineral elements,especially Ca,Mg,Fe.The content of Ca,Mg in H.elliptica were higher than that in H.corniculata,especially Ca,which was 1.6 times as much as in H.corniculata.The 8 elements,namely Be,Cd,Co,Li,Mo,Pb,Sb,Tl,were almost equal in both plants.In addition,contents of rest elements in H.corniculata were higher than that of H.elliptica.Combined with corresponding background values of soil elements,it was concluded that the contents of elements were related to growing environment of plants.By comparing differences in elemental contents between H.corniculata and H.elliptica,it can provide some basis for further study and usage.

Key words: ICP-OES, Halenia corniculata, Halenia elliptica, microwave digestion, mineral elements