Home / Regular Issue / JST Vol. 36 (2) May. 2013 / JTAS-0387-2011

 

Soil Factors Influencing Heavy Metal Concentrations in Medicinal Plants

Dayang S. N. and I. Che Fauziah

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, Volume 36, Issue 2, May 2013

Keywords: Heavy metals, medicinal plants, soil properties, agriculture input, correlation analysis, principal component analysis

Published on:

This study was conducted with the aim of finding soil factors which influence heavy metals uptake by medicinal plants. The heavy metal concentrations in medicinal plants at 3 different sites (different soil types) and the soils on which the plants grow were analysed. From the correlation analysis, soil properties affect all of the heavy metal concentrations in soils, meanwhile, only Cu and Se concentrations in soils affect their uptake by plants. However, this depends on plant parts (root and foliar), and the soil types. Principal component analysis (PCA) was also conducted to ascertain any patterns in the soil samples in relation to soil chemical characteristics and reinforce the findings from the correlation analysis. From the principal component analysis in this study, total Pb and As concentrations in medicinal plants were correlated with their concentrations in soils; however, they vary according to the soil types.

ISSN 0128-7680

e-ISSN 2231-8526

Article ID

JTAS-0387-2011

Download Full Article PDF

Share this article

Recent Articles