title: A tabulated review on distribution of heavy metals in various plants.
abstract: Plants are a rich source of elements, and knowledge of their elemental composition determines their use for various purposes, especially for food and medicine. Therefore, it is necessary to create a database of the elemental composition of plants. The present review focuses on the concentration of various heavy metals as reported by various workers from time to time by using different sophisticated techniques. Cluster analysis was applied on the basis of mean values of heavy metals in plants. Co, Cu, and Cr have similar proximities. Cluster analysis was also applied to different families on the basis of their heavy metal contents. Elaeagnaceae, Adoxaceae, Thymelaeaceae, Cupressaceae, and Acoraceae had close proximities with each other. First three components of principal component analysis explained 95.7 % of the total variance. Factor analysis explained four underlying factors for heavy metal analysis. Factor 1 explained for 26.5 % of the total variance and had maximum loadings on Co, Cu, and Cr. Of the total variance, 21.7 % was explained by factor 2 and had maximum loadings on Zn and Cd. Factor 3 accounted for 19.2 % of the total variance and had maximum loadings on Ni and Pb. Mn had maximum loading on factor 4. The mean values of heavy metals as listed in this paper are Cu (18.7 μg/g dw), Mn (99.67 μg/g dw), Cr (22.9 μg/g dw), Co (19.7 μg/g dw), As (1.25 μg/g dw), Hg (0.17 μg/g dw), Zn (94.0 μg/g dw), Pb (6.93 μg/g dw), Cd (26.9 μg/g dw), Ni (19.9 μg/g dw), and Sb (0.25 μg/g dw).
authors.affiliation: Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India. vinodverma507@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India.
authors.forename: Anket
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India.
authors.forename: Geeta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dhunna
authors.affiliation: High Altitude Biology Division, CSIR Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, 176061, India.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chawla
authors.affiliation: Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India. renubhardwaj82@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhardwaj
authors.affiliation: Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India.
authors.forename: Ashwani Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Thukral
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D010944:Plants
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy
keywords: Cluster analysis; Factor analysis; Heavy metals; Principal component analysis