Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia

The objective of this research was to determine the metal accumulation of C. asiatica collected from 13 sampling sites from Peninsular Malaysia and its safety for consumption by the public in Malaysia. Centella asiatica plants were collected (or bought) from 13 sampling sites (9 from the wild and 4...

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Main Authors: Ong, Hock Ghim, Yap, Chee Kong, Mahmood, Maziah, Tan, Soon Guan
Format: Article
Published: Asian Network for Scientific Information 2011
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22381/
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author Ong, Hock Ghim
Yap, Chee Kong
Mahmood, Maziah
Tan, Soon Guan
author_facet Ong, Hock Ghim
Yap, Chee Kong
Mahmood, Maziah
Tan, Soon Guan
author_sort Ong, Hock Ghim
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The objective of this research was to determine the metal accumulation of C. asiatica collected from 13 sampling sites from Peninsular Malaysia and its safety for consumption by the public in Malaysia. Centella asiatica plants were collected (or bought) from 13 sampling sites (9 from the wild and 4 from markets) between May and June of 2010. The leaves, stems and roots of C. asiatica were determined for Cadmium, Copper, Iron, Nickel, Lead and Zinc. Generally, Iron accumulation was the highest followed by Zinc, Lead, Copper, Nickel and Cadmium. For all metal accumulations, roots showed the highest level, followed by leaves and stems. Plants from sampling sites in Seremban, PPauh and Butterworth were higher in metal accumulation due to nearby activities such as industrial area and highway. When compared to the reference values from Recommended Dietary Allowance, Daily Dietary Intake, Tolerable Upper Intake Level and maximum level intake without detriment to health, all samples from the 13 sampling sites had metal levels which were within or lower than the safety levels or maximum permissible level for human consumption. Therefore, our results showed that Centella asiatica was safe to be consumed for all purposes especially for medical treatment of various illnesses.
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institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
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spelling upm-223812015-09-25T07:46:37Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22381/ Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia Ong, Hock Ghim Yap, Chee Kong Mahmood, Maziah Tan, Soon Guan The objective of this research was to determine the metal accumulation of C. asiatica collected from 13 sampling sites from Peninsular Malaysia and its safety for consumption by the public in Malaysia. Centella asiatica plants were collected (or bought) from 13 sampling sites (9 from the wild and 4 from markets) between May and June of 2010. The leaves, stems and roots of C. asiatica were determined for Cadmium, Copper, Iron, Nickel, Lead and Zinc. Generally, Iron accumulation was the highest followed by Zinc, Lead, Copper, Nickel and Cadmium. For all metal accumulations, roots showed the highest level, followed by leaves and stems. Plants from sampling sites in Seremban, PPauh and Butterworth were higher in metal accumulation due to nearby activities such as industrial area and highway. When compared to the reference values from Recommended Dietary Allowance, Daily Dietary Intake, Tolerable Upper Intake Level and maximum level intake without detriment to health, all samples from the 13 sampling sites had metal levels which were within or lower than the safety levels or maximum permissible level for human consumption. Therefore, our results showed that Centella asiatica was safe to be consumed for all purposes especially for medical treatment of various illnesses. Asian Network for Scientific Information 2011 Article PeerReviewed Ong, Hock Ghim and Yap, Chee Kong and Mahmood, Maziah and Tan, Soon Guan (2011) Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Biological Sciences, 11 (2). pp. 146-155. ISSN 1727-3048; ESSN: 1812-5719 http://www.scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jbs.2011.146.155 10.3923/jbs.2011.146.155
spellingShingle Ong, Hock Ghim
Yap, Chee Kong
Mahmood, Maziah
Tan, Soon Guan
Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia
title Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia
title_full Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia
title_fullStr Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia
title_short Heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant Centella asiatica from Peninsular Malaysia
title_sort heavy metal accumulation in a medicinal plant centella asiatica from peninsular malaysia
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22381/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22381/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22381/