Contrasting effect of phosphate on phytoavailability of arsenic and cadmium in soils supporting medicinal plants

Applied Biological Chemistry

Table 3 As and Cd concentrations and bioconcentration factors of medicinal plant species

Plant species	n		Heavy metal in medicinal plant (mg/kg)		Bioconcentration factor^a
Plant species	n		As	Cd	As	Cd
Angelica gigas	12	Max	4.31	0.39	21.3	18.6
		Min	0.01	0.06	0.005	1.26
		Mean	0.88^ab	0.24^ab	2.60^ab	8.62^ab
Astragalus membranaceus	11	Max	2.77	0.17	3.27	8.12
		Min	0.14	0.13	0.12	0.75
		Mean	1.48^a	0.16^b	0.96^ab	2.78^b
Atractylodes macrocephala Koidzumi	14	Max	2.62	0.40	2.78	21.7
		Min	0.02	0.04	0.02	0.42
		Mean	1.38^a	0.21^b	0.78^ab	7.20^ab
Codonopsis lanceolata	14	Max	0.59	0.33	0.17	8.37
		Min	0.01	0.02	0.009	4.75
		Mean	0.14^bc	0.22^b	0.074^b	5.73^ab
Platycodon grandiflorum	18	Max	0.21	0.57	0.077	9.49
		Min	0.01	0.21	0.002	4.06
		Mean	0.08^c	0.34^a	0.029^b	6.97^ab
Rehmannia glutinosa	15	Max	2.42	0.38	13.0	17.5
		Min	0.02	0.03	0.002	1.14
		Mean	1.38^a	0.17^b	3.22^a	11.1^a
Permissible safety level^b			3	0.3

^aRatio of heavy metal concentration in medicinal plant to that in the soil
^bMaximum permissible safety level for medicinal plants established by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea