Determination of heavy metals in soil and different parts of Diplazium esculentum (medicinal fern)

Abstract

Diplazium esculentum is a widely used medicinal fern in Malaysia and other regions worldwide. Heavy metals in plants should be determined because prolonged human intake of toxic trace elements, even at low doses, results in organ malfunction and causes chronic toxicity. Hence, substantial information should be obtained from plants that grow on soils containing high concentrations of heavy metals. This study aimed to determine the physicochemical characteristics of soil and heavy metal concentrations (Pb, Cr, Mn, Cu, and Zn) in different parts of D. esculentum and soil, which were collected from the fern garden of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Results showed that heavy metals were highly accumulated in D. esculentum roots.

Diplazium esculentum (Retz.) Sw.: Ethnomedicinal, Phytochemical, and Pharmacological Overview of the Himalayan Ferns

“…The nutritional value of any food substance can be analyzed by its proximate and mineral composition [24]. Literature-based screening of the proximate composition of D. esculentum revealed the presence of lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, fiber, etc., while mineral composition possesses the presence of essential micro and macro compounds [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. The comparative analyses of proximate and mineral composition of D. esculentum are presented in Tables 2 and 3.…”