Exploration of Foods and Foodomics

Table 3. Levels of metals and metalloids (µg/g) in Nigerian medicinal plants

Elements	BC	AG	AR	TO	SL	IA	PL
Cu	2.516 ± 0.121^a	2.794 ± 0.249^a	75.03 ± 0.202^b	3.626 ± 0.49^a	3.065 ± 0.136^a	3.159 ± 0.321^a	150
Cd	0.002 ± 0.000^a	0.001 ± 0.000^a	0.008 ± 0.001^b	0.003 ± 0.000^a	0.008 ± 0.000^b	0.178 ± 0.000^c	0.3
Pb	0.254 ± 0.001^c	0.033 ± 0.002^a	0.379 ± 0.034^d	0.084 ± 0.004^b	0.07 ± 0.000^b	0.912 ± 0.118^e	10
Zn	7.883 ± 0.119^a	8.997 ± 0.314^a	9.715 ± 0.056^a	10.528 ± 0.823^a	13.709 ± 1.499^b	25.187 ± 0.063^c	50
Mn	21.636 ± 3.47^d	2.016 ± 0.062^b	3.397 ± 0.164^b	0.502 ± 0.013^a	7.118 ± 0.033^c	2.098 ± 0.055^b	2
Co	0.158 ± 0.005^c	0.026 ± 0.002^a	0.199 ± 0.002^c	0.033 ± 0.000^a	0.093 ± 0.018^b	0.12 ± 0.006^b	0.48
Ni	1.19 ± 0.029^c	0.298 ± 0.017^b	0.748 ± 0.02^bc	0.369 ± 0.18^b	0.416 ± 0.091^b	0.12 ± 0.006^a	1.5
As	0.166 ± 0.024^b	0.122 ± 0.001^a	0.267 ± 0.019^b	0.206 ± 0.036^a	0.109 ± 0.001^a	0.138 ± 0.006^a	10
Fe	7.746 ± 0.1585^a	7.298 ± 0.024^a	33.53 ± 0.427^b	17.2 ± 1.46^a	14.58 ± 5.694^a	99.68 ± 4.044^c	20

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Data with the same superscripts in the same row are not statistically different from one another. Values are mean ± SD of three replicates. The SD values which are less than 0.0001 were written as 0.000 in this table. PL: permissible limits

Declarations

Author contributions

JAA: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. AJA: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. OSS, BAR, VCdOS, VOB, and MCOS: Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. COA: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing—review & editing, Supervision. FBJ: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Writing—review & editing, Supervision.

Conflicts of interest

Bruno A. Rocha is the GE of Exploration of Foods and Foodomics, but he had no involvement in the journal review process of this manuscript. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent to publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this manuscript will be made available by the author (Joseph A. Adeyemi, jaadeyemi@futa.edu.ng), without undue reservation, to any qualified researcher.

Funding

The authors warmly appreciate the financial support from the Sao Paulo Research Foundation [FAPESP 2018/24069-3, FAPESP 2022/09989-4]; and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development [CNPq 406442/2022-3]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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