Analysis of sexual supplements with ion beam analytical techniques

The aim of this work is to study sexual supplements commercialized through the e-market in Brazil in order to evaluate their elemental and molecular composition. To that end, eight different supplements sold over the internet were analyzed with Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry with MeV primary ions (MeV-SIMS). In general, the PIXE results show that light elements from Na to Ca have concentrations ranging from 103 ppm up to 105 ppm, while heavier elements have concentrations below 500 ppm. High concentrations of Mg, K and Ca were found in the supplements, while elements like Ni and Cu were present in trace levels. Despite some similarities were found between maca root and the supplements studied in this work, it was not possible to establish that maca root was the sole ingredient of the supplements. Statistical analysis of the elemental concentration reveals strong correlations among brands from the same manufacturer. The molecular signature obtained through MeV-SIMS experiments corroborates the strong similarities found for two brands, thus suggesting that different brands might be related to the same supplement content.