Artemisia and the Elements: A Botanical Symphony of Minerals and Metals

Abstract

Artemisia species are known for their rich phytochemical diversity; however, their ability to accumulate a wide range of minerals and metals from the soil raises significant safety concerns, particularly in therapeutic and dietary contexts. This review provides data on elemental composition across 64 Artemisia species, evaluating their nutritional, medicinal and environmental implications. Data collection was carried out using various databases, including SciELO, Google Scholar, Medline, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. Around 220 records were searched and data on elemental content in Artemisia species was finalized from around 170 papers. Data showed various reported essential macro elements with varied levels in Artemisia species such as carbon (C), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (N), silicon (Si), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S) and which are critical for maintaining physiological functions. Additionally, the presence of micro elemnts in Artemisia including boron (B), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), bismuth (Bi), bromine (Br), chlorine (Cl), cobalt (Co), cesium (Cs), copper (Cu), europium (Eu), iron (Fe), germanium (Ge), hafnium (Hf), iodine (I), lithium (Li), lutetium (Lu), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), rubidium (Rb), antimony (Sb), selenium (Se), samarium (Sm), thorium (Th), titanium (Ti), thallium (Tl), ytterbium (Yb), zinc (Zn) and zirconium (Zr) was reported. Despite the plants' considerable nutritional and medicinal potential, the review also focused the concerning levels of metalloids like arsenic (As) and metals like aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), gold (Au), cadmium (Cd), cerium (Ce), chromium (Cr), gallium (Ga), mercury (Hg), lanthanum (La), niobium (Nb), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), scandium (Sc), tin (Sn), strontium (Sr), yttrium (Y) and vanadium (V). Artemisia species serve as both valuable nutritional and medicinal resources and potential accumulators of toxic elements. This review further explores how various elements affect plant health including Artemisia, highlighting the mechanisms of metals detoxification as well as the importance of careful management practices.

Keywords: Artemisia L.; Elemental content; Hyper-accumulators; Macro- and micro nutrients; Metal detoxification; Metals.