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Investigation of Heavy Metal Level and Mineral Nutrient Status in Widely Used Medicinal Plants’ Leaves in Turkey: Insights into Health Implications

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Abstract

The use of plants in treatments has been as old as humanity and it has preserved its popularity for centuries til now because of their availability, affordability and safeness. However, despite their widespread use, safety and quality issues have been major concerns in the world due to industrial- and anthropogenic-based heavy metal contamination risks. Thus, this study was attempted to analyze the heavy metal levels and mineral nutrient status of widely used medicinal plants in Turkey to have insights about their health implications on humans. The plant concentrations of B, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb and Zn were analyzed by ICP-OES in the leaves of 44 medical plants purchased from herbal markets of three different districts of Istanbul/Turkey. The measured lowest to highest concentrations were 0.065–79.749 mg kg−1 B, 921.802–12,854.410 mg kg−1 Ca, 0.020–0.558 mg kg−1 Cd, 0.015–4.978 mg kg−1 Cr, 0.042–8.489 mg kg−1 Cu, 34.356–858.446 mg kg−1 Fe, 791.323–15,569.349 mg kg−1 K, 102.236–2837.836 mg kg−1 Mg, 4.915–91.519 mg kg−1 Mn, 10.224–3213.703 mg kg−1 Na, 0.001–5.589 mg kg−1 Ni, 0.003–3.636 mg kg−1 Pb and 2.601–36.102 mg kg−1 Zn. Those levels in plants were in acceptable limits though some elements in some plants have high limits which were not harmful. Variations (above acceptable limits) in element concentrations also indicated that these plants could be contaminated with other metals and that genetic variations may influence accumulation of these elements at different contents. Overall, analyzed medicinal plants are expected not to pose any serious threat to human health.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our special gratitude to Dr. Mehmet Emin Uras and Dr. Recep Vatansever for their assistance from Marmara University, Department of Biology. Also, we are thankful to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Birsen Eygi Erdogan from Marmara University, Department of Statistics for the statistical analyses. This study was supported in part by the Research Foundation of Marmara University (BAPKO), Project No. FEN-C-YLP-130612-0230.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Marmara University, Goztepe, 34722, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ibrahim Ilker Ozyigit & Sedat Karadeniz

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Arts, Marmara University, Goztepe, 34722, Istanbul, Turkey

    Bahattin Yalcin, Senay Turan & Ibrahim Adnan Saracoglu

  3. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Bahcesehir University, Besiktas, 34353, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ibrahim Ertugrul Yalcin

  4. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Kirklareli University, Kayali, 39020, Kirklareli, Turkey

    Goksel Demir

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  1. Ibrahim Ilker Ozyigit
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  4. Ibrahim Adnan Saracoglu
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Correspondence to Ibrahim Ilker Ozyigit.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 3 Mineral nutrient and heavy metal contents in leaves of analyzed medicinal plants (mg kg−1)
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Appendix 2

Hierarchical cluster analysis, dendrogram using average linkage (Between Species). 1- Achillea millefolium L., 2- Alchemilla alpina L., 3- Alkanna tinctoria L., 4- Artemisia absinthium L., 5- Artemisia dracunculus L., 6- Avena sativa L., 7- Berberis vulgaris L., 8- Camellia sinensis L., 9- Capsella bursa-pastoris L., 10- Cassia acutifolia Del., 11- Cinchona succirubra L., 12- Citrus aurantium L., 13- Cynara scolymus L., 14- Ficaria verna Huds., 15- Foeniculum vulgare Mill., 16- Fumaria officinalis L., 17- Galium aparine L., 18- Ginkgo biloba L., 19- Helichrysum arenarium L., 20- Humulus lupulus L., 21- Hypericum perforatum L., 22- Juglans regia L., 23- Lamium album L., 24- Laurus nobilis L., 25- Lavandula stoechas L., 26- Melissa officinalis L., 27- Morus nigra L., 28- Myrtus communis L., 29- Ocimum basilicum L., 30- Olea europaea L., 31- Origanum majorana L., 32- Persea gratissima Mill., 33- Plantago lanceolata L., 34- Rosmarinus officinalis L., 35- Rubus fruticosus L., 36- Ruta graveolens L., 37- Salvia officinalis L., 38- Sideritis condensata Boiss. et Heldr., 39- Solidago virgaurea L., 40- Sorbus domestica L., 41- Symphytum officinale L., 42- Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg, 43- Tussilago farfara L., 44- Viscum album L.

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Ozyigit, I.I., Yalcin, B., Turan, S. et al. Investigation of Heavy Metal Level and Mineral Nutrient Status in Widely Used Medicinal Plants’ Leaves in Turkey: Insights into Health Implications. Biol Trace Elem Res 182, 387–406 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-017-1070-7

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