Heavy Metal Analysis of Locally Available Anticancer Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Plant species are used in different forms either dry or fresh to extract the active ingredients that can be used for medicinal purposes. These active ingredients may or may not contain non-essential elements. One of the main non-essential elements includes heavy metals. The consumption of medicinal plants having larger amounts of heavy metals can affect the health of human beings. Currently, we have also assessed eight locally available medicinal plant species for endogenous heavy metals (i.e. cadmium, arsenic, mercury, lead and zinc). The results revealed that Saxifraga flagellaris, Moringa oleifera, and Fegonia cretica had no lead, whereas Melia azedarach had the highest concentration of lead. Similarly, Saxifraga flagellaris had lower concentration of arsenic, while Albizia lebbeck had zero and Melia azedarach had the highest accumulation of arsenic. Cadmium was absent in Saxifraga flagellaris, Withania coagulans, and Valeriana jatamansi. Moringa oleifera had lower and Melia azedarach had the greatest amounts of cadmium. Mercury concentration has been high in Melia azedarach (2.39±0.18 µg/g), followed by Hedera helix (0.26±0.02 µg/g), Saxifraga flagellaris (0.051±0.031 µg/g) and Albizia lebbeck (0.041±0.01 µg/g). The species, Fegonia cretica, Valeriana jatamansi, Withania coagulans, Moringa oleifera had no mercury. The highest zinc concentration was observed in Melia azedarach and the lowest concentration was found in Saxifraga flagellaris.