Features of Elements Accumulation in Fruit and Berry Plants Cultivated in the Vicinity of Zelenogorsk City, Krasnoyarsk Region

Abstract

The aim of the study is to identify the peculiarities of the elemental composition of berries (fruits) and leaves of raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.), black currant (Ribes nigrum L.), sour cherry (Cerasus vulgaris L.), serviceberry (Amelanchier ovalis Medik.) collected in the vicinity of Zelenogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Region, with an assessment of their potential use as sources of elements, ecological safety of use, as well as patterns of distribution of elements between plants, soil, and the surrounding environment. The elemental composition was analyzed using the method of arc atomic emission spectroscopy with a multi-channel analyzer of emission spectra (DAES with MAES) after ashing. As a result, the presence of 30 elements was determined in the ash of the studied plants, 25 of which belong to trace elements, and 22 are (conditionally) essential. The belongingness of the minimum extremes of content to mostly odd ordinal numbers of elements in the Mendeleev table was established, while the maximum extremes belonged to even ones. It is proposed to represent the revealed regularities in the form of combinations of extrema with the corresponding serial numbers of atoms, which clearly indicates the plant's ability to concentrate certain chemical elements. Based on the degree of accumulation from the soil, which indicates the ability of plants to accumulate elements, the highest indicator for all studied species and their raw materials is K, for all raspberry and blackcurrant raw materials – Ca, for cherry and raspberry leaves with berries (fruits) and separately for cherry fruits – Mg, only for blackcurrant leaves with berries (fruits) – Ti, for blackcurrant leaves with berries (fruits) – Sr and Ag. The study identified only Ti and Ag as having a "strong accumulation" in the biological absorption of elements, while the others were common for vegetation. Raspberry was found to have the highest biogeochemical activity among the studied fruit and berry plants (regardless of the raw material), followed by blackcurrant. It is shown that the raw materials "leaves + berries (fruits)" in all the studied cases contain much more trace elements, in contrast to individual berries (fruits). The study demonstrated the potential use of these plant species as sources of macroelements and trace elements, including essential ones.