Journal
ARABIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 308-317Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2017.04.010
Keywords
Bioaccumulation; Fruit; Medicinal plant; Metal; Enrichment; Health risk
Categories
Funding
- Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The present study is based on the measurement of selected metals (Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Pb, Sr and Zn) in the fruits of eight medicinal plants (Carrisa opeca, Phyllanthus emblica, Solanum nigrum, Zizyphus nummularia, Zizyphus mauritiana, Physalis minima, Opuntia dillenii and Phoenix dactylifera) and relevant soil samples by atomic absorption spectrometry. Highest average concentrations of Cu (14.4 mg/kg), Cr (19.0 mg/kg), and Zn (125 mg/kg) were found in the fruits of P. minima, C. opeca and Z. nummularia, respectively, while O. dillenii showed the elevated mean levels of Cd (3.49 mg/kg), Sr (61.4 mg/kg), Mg (0.21%), Ca (6.62%) and Mn (44.6 mg/kg). However, highest average levels of Pb (41.7 mg/kg) and Co (38.4 mg/kg) were found in Z. mauritiana. Overall, most of the fruit samples showed higher contributions of Ca and Mg, followed by Fe, Zn, Co and Pb. In the case of soil samples, highest concentration was observed for Ca, followed by Fe, Mg, Mn and Sr, while lowest concentration was shown by Cd. Bioaccumulation factors exhibited significantly higher accumulation of Co (0.813-1.829) and Pb (0.060-2.350) from the soil to the fruits. Principal component analysis revealed significant anthropogenic contributions of Pb, Fe and Co in the fruit samples. Contamination factors and enrichment factors of Cd and Pb in the soil indicated very high contamination and extreme enrichment of these metals. (C) 2017 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available