Determination of some toxic and essential metal ions in medicinal and edible plants from Mali

Plants are used in different ways in Mali, among those as medicine and as food. The monitoring of metals in the plants is of great importance for protecting the public from the hazards of possible toxic effects and also for informing the population about the nutritional value of the plants. The concentrations of some toxic and essential metal ions were surveyed in seven medicinal and edible plants from Mali. Dry ashing of the plant material and subsequent use of atomic absorption spectrophotometry were the analytical methodologies used. Iron, manganese, and zinc were found in high concentrations in some of the plants, i.e., 1.4 and 1.5 mg/g iron in Cuminum cyminum and Bombax costatum, respectively, 243 microg/g manganese in Hibiscus sabdariffa, and 62.8 and 67.1 microg/g zinc in Spilanthes oleracaea and B. costatum, respectively, whereas cobalt and cadmium were not detected in any of the plant material studied. The other ions detected, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Cu, were present in minor amounts, in the ranges of 2.2-17.2 microg/g for Cr, 1.6-8.1 microg/g for Ni, 0.7-5.2 microg/g for Pb, and 2.4-17.1 microg/g for Cu. From a toxicological point of view, none of these plants would be harmful for the user by taking in the plant material in the traditional manner, which is preparing an infusion of the plant using amounts not adding up to those necessary to reach a harmful level of the metal ions detected. The plants B. costatum and C. cyminum could be of interest as sources for iron for humans in the case of too low of a level of hemoglobin.