title: A Survey of Plant Iron Content-A Semi-Systematic Review.
abstract: Iron is an essential mineral nutrient for all living organisms, involved in a plurality of biological processes. Its deficit is the cause of the most common form of anemia in the world: iron deficiency anemia (IDA). This paper reviews iron content in various parts of 1228 plant species and its absorption from herbal products, based on data collected from the literature in a semi-systematic manner. Five hundred genera randomly selected from the Angiosperms group, 215 genera from the Pteridophytes groups and all 95 Gymnosperm genera as listed in the Plant List version 1.1 were used as keywords together with the word "iron" in computerized searches. Iron data about additional genera returned by those searches were extracted and included in the analysis. In total, iron content values for a number of 1228 species, 5 subspecies, and 5 varieties were collected. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare iron contents in various plant parts (whole plant, roots, stems, shoots, leaves, aerial parts, flowers, fruits, seeds, wood, bark, other parts) and exploratory analyses by taxonomic groups and life-forms were carried out. The absorption and potential relevance of herbal iron for iron supplementation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Cell Biology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest 20956, Romania. robert.ancuceanu@umf.ro.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ancuceanu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Cell Biology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest 20956, Romania. mihaela.dinu@umf.ro.
authors.forename: Mihaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dinu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Cell Biology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest 20956, Romania. marilena.hovanet@umf.ro.
authors.forename: Marilena Viorica
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Hovaneţ
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Cell Biology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest 20956, Romania. adriana.anghel@umf.ro.
authors.forename: Adriana Iuliana
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Anghel
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy and Dental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Virology and Parasitology, "Vasile Goldis" Western University, Arad; S.C. Hofigal S.A, Bucharest 042124, Romania. carmen_popescu@hofigal.eu.
authors.forename: Carmen Violeta
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest 20956, Romania. simona_negres@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Negreş
mesh_terms: D032462:Cycadopsida / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D016208:Databases, Factual; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D019266:Iron, Dietary / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry; D064028:Tracheophyta / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D019266:Iron, Dietary
keywords: anemia; food supplements; herbal organs; iron; life-forms; taxonomic groups