The root and rhizome of danshen (salvia miltiorrhiza bunge), one of theearliest and also the most commonly used herbal drugs in practice of traditionalChinese medicines, has been confirmed effective for coronary heart disease,including angina pectoris, coronary artery spasm, myocardial infarction, etc.,based on modern investigations. And some trace elements were found related tothese diseases. Therefore it was important to research trace elements and theircontents in the root for studying pharmic mechanism of danshen. The contents of22 trace elements, including Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, V, Mn, Cr, Cu, Rb, Sr, Ba, Pb, B,As, Se, Li, Co, Ni, Mo, Cd, Sn and Hg, in the roots of danshen germplasm,originating from four planting regions and grew in the same place, were analyzedby ICP-MS/ICP-AES. The results showed that the contents of trace elements in theroot of Shandong white flower danshen were higher as a whole. And the contents ofCa, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Ba, Li, Co, Ni and Hg in the root of Shandong white flowerdanshen were the highest among the four kinds of original danshen,in which thecontents of Zn, Mn, Cu, Ni and Hg were significantly higher than those in thethree kinds of original violet flower danshen. The contents of Rb and Mo in theroot of Shanxishangluo violet flower danshen were the smallest and that of Ni wasthe highest among the three kinds of original violet flower danshen. Comparedwith the difference between white flower danshen and violet flower danshen, thedifference of rest nineteen kinds of trace elements contents among the threekinds of original violet flower danshen was smaller. The difference in thecontents of trace elements has an important effect on the research into thecontents of officinal ingredients and their curative effect of the roots of fourkinds of original danshen germplasm.(20090450327)资助