. 2022 Aug 27;10(9):499. doi: 10.3390/toxics10090499

Table 1.

Heavy metals contents in medicinal plants compartments.

Plant sp.	Plant Samples Origin	Plant Part	Heavy Metals Ions Concentration (mg/kg)						Refs.
Plant sp.	Plant Samples Origin	Plant Part	Cd(II)	Pb(II)	Cu(II)	Zn(II)	Ni(II)	Mn(II)	Refs.
Oenothera biennis	Qingchengzi mining area, China	roots	0.15–1.22	43–83.2	1.7–3.8	43.9–212.7	-	-	[62]
Oenothera biennis		aerial parts	0.12–0.79	5.5–42.4	1.6–2.9	36.6–151.8	-	-
Taraxacum mongolicum		roots	0.93–2.20	128.4–212.2	7.3–8.9	35.9–127.2	-	-
Taraxacum mongolicum		aerial parts	2.11–5.18	51.7–71.7	5.8–11.5	23.1–58.2	-	-
Plantago asiatica		roots	0.31–15.0	65.9–344.7	14–18.4	90.1–651	-	-
Plantago asiatica		aerial parts	0.30–14.5	20.9–181.8	7.6–17	70–344.9	-	-
Portulaca oleracea		roots	0.83	25.8	11.7	129.8	-	-
Portulaca oleracea		aerial parts	0.37	21.8	9.9	73.1	-	-
Echinacea pallida var. pallida	Laboratory experiments in greenhouse	roots	0.13–0.15	2.305–2.989	15.164–18.420	28.787–39.604	3.689–5.983	81.35–97.37	[63]
Echinacea pallida var. pallida		aerial parts	0.10–0.11	0.412–0.753	8.979–22.241	14.463–14.957	0.898–0.983	8.91–9.25
Echinacea purpurea var. purpurea		roots	0.11–0.24	1.770–7.247	25.326–25.284	51.72–142.23	3.307–16.155	60.41–272.78
Echinacea purpurea var. purpurea		aerial parts	0.10–0.12	0.345–1.015	17.194–27.875	21.445–22.577	1.229–2.485	24.80–25.21
Echinacea purpurea var. baby white swan		roots	0.12–0.13	1.198–2.211	16.459–29.079	23.569–27.267	3.625–4.481	54.50–70.81
Echinacea purpurea var. baby white swan		aerial parts	0.08–0.11	0.648–0.834	10.453–12.709	18.798–19.370	1.208–2.399	16.54–32.05
Echinacea purpurea var. double decker		roots	0.098–0.10	0.481–1.818	8.495–17.822	23.755–23.789	0.595–3.412	41.27–57.97
Echinacea purpurea var. double decker		aerial parts	0.103–0.11	0.390–0.793	10.350–14.509	16.278–19.621	1.445–1.837	19.66–41.13
Echinacea paradoxa var. paradoxa		roots	0.116–0.13	0.286–1.893	6.173–35.347	21.178–32.894	0.716–3.927	33.65–66.64
Echinacea paradoxa var. paradoxa		aerial parts	0.09–0.12	0.551–2.180	10.397–23.762	17.441–26.995	1.052–4.821	13.67–78.67
Lavandula vera L.	Agricultural fields contaminated by the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works, KCM- Plovdiv, Bulgaria	roots	2.3–160.9	20.5–1566.9	-	46.8–1755.9	-	-	[64]
		stems	3.1–27.1	71.2–2157.9	-	74.9–683.2	-	-
		leaves	28.4–113.2	89.97–5784.7	-	80.2–2881.9	-	-
		flowering stalks	0.62–15.6	31.4–1147.3	-	57.1–349.3	-	-
Matricaria chamomilla	Commercially available teas produced in different European Countries	flowers	0.08–0.81	0.56–1.28	4.09–11.4	63.4–109	-	54.7–184	[65]
Camellia sinesis		leaves	36.3–202	1.50–4.77	9.35–22.6	30.7–116	-	1.15–1.76	[65]
Achillea millefolium	From spontaneous flora of Galați County, Romania and different indigenous products (herbal teas packs)	flowers	0.02–0.04	0.09–0.42	11.00–15.00	-	-	-	[66]
Calendula officinalis		flowers	0.01	0.14–0.24	4.00–24.00	-	-	-
Matricaria chamomilla		flowers	0.01–0.02	0.04–0.49	11.00–17.00	-	-	-
Ocimum basilicum		aerial parts	0.01	0.60–2.03	10.00–15.00	-	-	-
Tilia cordata		flowers	0.01–0.05	0.01–0.32	0.00–17.00	-	-	-
Anethum graveolens		leaves	0.02–0.12	0.08–0.09	127–142	-	-	-
Origanum majorana		aerial parts	0.05	0.14–0.95	131–348	-	-	-
Origanum vulgare		aerial parts	0.06–0.07	0.04	198–201	-	-	-
Mentha piperita		leaves	0.01–0.10	0.18–1.28	157–309	-	-	-
Petroselinum crispum		leaves	0.05–0.07	0.06–0.11	122–133	-	-	-
Thymus vulgaris		aerial parts	0.03–0.09	0.07–0.11	131–191	-	-	-
Thymus Vulgaris	Ash-shouback south region, Jordan	aerial parts	BLD	33.03	13.23	16.18	23.85	15.52	[67]
Tymus serpyllum		aerial parts	BLD	1.26	10.40	15.80	BLD	14.7
Saliva officinalis		aerial parts	BLD	BLD	7.66	114.91	0.47	44.0
Hypericum perforatum	Site close to a country road inside the Canale Monterano Natural Park/Site located in the inner city of Rome, Italy	flowers	0.03/0.27	2.88/3.96	6.27/9.36	21.33/26.46	0.40/5.80	-	[68]
		roots	0.02/0.77	3.40/73.30	6.45/8.75	29.82/25.60	0.04/1.12	-
		cauline leaves	0.02/0.72	0.24/7.82	2.71/10.13	20.66/29.33	0.32/1.32	-
		stalk	0.02/0.27	0.02/70.30	1.09/2.25	18.10/26.70	0.02/0.09	-
Dactylis glomerata		flowers	0.09/0.02	0.47/1.55	1.77/2.75	10.45/8.47	0.09/0.02	-
		roots	0.76/0.81	0.35/30.32	3.97/6.76	14.91/39.17	0.04/0.05	-
		basal leaves	0.34/0.96	0.74/8.60	0.98/5.28	9.14/17.20	0.39/0.36	-
		stalk	0.43/0.39	0.13/0.61	0.36/2.00	6.76/9.24	0.02/0.91	-
Plantago lanceolata		flowers	0.02/3.12	0.59/1.89	4.20/0.12	37.42/18.87	0.02/3.45	-
		roots	0.12/0.84	0.52/8.48	7.80/17.38	14.97/67.13	0.19/0.44	-
		cauline leaves	0.01/0.01	0.77/2.91	1.93/4.94	6.35/20.25	0.39/0.02	-
		stalk	0.02/0.99	0.04/2.10	0.79/2.96	2.67/13.38	0.02/0.06	-
Verbascum thapsus		flowers	0.07/0.02	0.10/0.83	1.21/6.20	2.12/19.91	0.11/0.50	-
		roots	0.05/0.08	1.83/3.50	7.48/9.24	3.72/36.88	0.53/0.02	-
		cauline leaves	0.02/0.15	0.56/8.81	3.79/8.30	3.60/27.31	0.17/0.29	-
		stalk	0.02/0.02	0.26/9.21	3.27/9.24	1.49/15.60	0.02/0.02	-
Cichorium intybus		flowers	3.51/0.05	0.11/0.58	3.48/4.81	18.75/15.29	1.11/0.79	-
		roots	0.17/0.19	0.40/4.82	3.67/7.86	11.77/17.7	0.49/0.50	-
		basal leaves	0.02/1.16	0.29/4.81	1.76/21.25	23.27/53.90	0.02/1.16	-
		cauline leaves	0.02/0.27	BLD	2.59/6.40	3.31/66.35	0.45/0.33	-
		stalk	0.15/0.11	0.02/4.32	2.29/2.84	5.34/35.75	0.33/0.19
Hypericum perforatum	“Dealul Bujorului” Natural Reservation and “Izvorul Cerbului” camping, Romania	flowers	0.16–0.68	-	22.56–43.62	23.66–30.64	-	11.91–20.67	[69]
		leaves	0.078–0.84	-	0.465–5.602	30.2–75.62	-	194.6–254.2
		stems	0.42–4.65	-	17.64–19.85	13.16–17.64	-	7.25–15.74
Hypericum perforatum	Sites from the Rhodope Mountains	aerial parts	0.35–0.92	0.7–1.9	5.6–9.1	21–47	0.7–11.7	12–69	[70]
Valeriana officinalis L.	Soil from agricultural land located away from excessive traffic, Krokocice village, Poland	roots	-	-	8.50	49.5	-	81.0	[71]
Cichorium intybus L.	Van Lake Basin Van Turkey	aerial parts	0.15	0.14	10.80	18.84	-	20.04	[72]
Urtica dioica	Meža Valley (Slovenia)	aerial parts	0.2–0.9	1.1–15.5	5.0–18.7	29.1–73.5	-	17.3–318.0	[73]
Hypericum perforatum		aerial parts	0.2–4.2	2.1–25.1	6.3–11.7	26.9–103.4	-	7.8–75.4
Achillea millefolium		aerial parts	0.3–5.7	1.5–15.9	4.2–9.9	23.2–211.7	-	16.6–163.2
Plantago lanceolata		aerial parts	0.3–16	1.4–195.9	4.2–9.3	33.3–799.5	-	10.3–75.4
Thymus serpyllum L.	Kuyavia- Pomerania Province, Poland	inflorescences	-	4.1–6.80	21.75–30.85	64.75–106.2	-	124.3–338.6	[74]
		leaves + stems	-	12.00–17.90	7.80–16.20	41.95–116.9	-	128.0–289.1
		roots	-	5.00–20.80	22.00–28.20	34.05–109.4	-	119.6–264.6
Urtica dioica	Sites in Spreča river valley, Bosnia and Herzegovina	aerial parts	0.022	0.04	13.81	31.8	1.7	-	[75]
Artemisia vulgaris		aerial parts	0.034	3.36	16.92	34.5	42.9	-
Mentha arvensis		aerial parts	0.019	1.31	13.87	32.2	7.6	-
Urtica urens		aerial parts	BLD	BLD	12.9	38.9	5.2	-
Achillea millefolium		aerial parts	BLD	BLD	12.1	36.2	6.1	-
Calendula officinalis	Natural habitats of the plants, region of Southeast Serbia	flower	-	-	12.82	18.15	-	24.38	[76]
Primula officinalis		flower	-	-	20.35	22.36	-	36.60
Origanum vulgare		aerial parts	-	-	23.95	49.65	-	21.80
Cichorium intybus		aerial parts	-	-	20.50	32.40	-	49.39
Saturea montana		aerial parts	-	-	15.77	25.12	-	40.65
Delphinidum consolida		aerial parts	-	-	23.06	39.84	-	13.84
Papaver rhoeas		flower	-	-	35.50	31.80	-	20.61
Atropa belladonna	Laboratory studies	seeds	0.11	BLD	11.61	50.58	1.13	18.81	[77]
Atropa belladonna	Laboratory studies	roots	0.14	BLD	7.44	15.03	2.89	17.56	[77]
Tanacetum vulgare L.	Landfill site located in the Pilsen Region, Czech Republic	root	0.294–1.63	1.335–18.03	29.35–75.82	39.50–166.2	8.84–77.66	138.0–560.7	[78]
		stalk	0.620–2.077	0.029–4.141	3.331–33.85	40.82–230.6	0.241–70.65	38.10–237.2
		leaf	0.609–2.190	0.639–6.240	17.91–62.86	58.30–721.9	6.77–163.5	172– 401.1
Hypoxis helmerocallidea	Muthi shops and open street markets in Pietermaritzburg KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa	tuber	0–0.04	0.58–1.50	7.83–11.90	27.15–40.67	2.54–2.59	182.25–234.79	[79]
Rapenea melanophloeos		stem bark	0–0.04	0.24–1.96	1.96–3.47	3.99–5.16	2.47–2.52	55.14– 163
Bulbine natalensis		root	0.24–0.28	3.69–5.16	4.58–19.70	51.68–107.33	3.82–6.28	169– 479
Alepidea amatymbica		root	0.27–0.39	0.37–4.54	13.00–19.33	45.25–55.93	12–30	238–248.69
Drimia elata		bulb	0.01–0.06	0.22–1.23	5.61–11.25	34.07–102.57	4.24–10	60.69–145.76
Lycopodium clavatum		whole plant	0.11–0.15	0–3.93	6.25–7.15	20.48–24.37	4.56–6.55	144– 315
Schizocarphus nervosus		bulb	0–0.01	0.1–0.42	2.46–3.71	19.79–25.28	398–4.89	41.86–49.57
Momordica foetida		root	0.01	2.87–3.62	5.78–6.61	34.56–36.11	5.78–6.61	44.77–55.28
Carduus nutans	Historical polluted sites from Navodari area, Romania	leaf	0.005–0.053	2.18–25.63	1.88–15.21	12.66–31.01	0.211–1.29	-	[80]
Taraxacum officinale	Historical polluted sites from Navodari area, Romania	leaf	0.002–0.078	1.117–13.79	5.70–13.84	20.45–35.49	0.108–0.812	-	[80]
Maximum permissible levels (mg/kg)			0.3	10	20	50	-	-	[81,82]

BLD—below limit of detection.