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Medicinal plants have been used throughout history in the treatment of many diseases in traditional Anatolian folk medicine as well as all over the world. The rapid increase in agricultural and industrial activities due to the increasing population around the world causes air, water and soil pollution, and accumulation of potentially toxic elements in medicinal plants. In this study, plant mineral nutrients and potentially toxic elements analyzes were carried out in 38 plant species belonging to the medicinally important families Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae. The percentage of macroelements (in %) varies between 0.20 and 1.46 for calcium, 0.08 and 1.35 for potassium, 0.04 and 0.24 for magnesium, 0.01 and 0.34 for sodium, while concentrations of microelements and potentially toxic elements (in mg kg−1) vary between 3.21 and 721.28 for aluminum, 41.33 and 231.01 for boron, 0.01 and 0.61 for cadmium, 1.09 and 47.79 for chromium, 12.90 and 43.13 for copper, 17.75 and 1109.39 for iron, 51.50 and 715.48 for manganese, 0.12 and 9.42 for nickel, 1.58 and 22.11 for lead and finally 80.82 and 260.08 for zinc. In addition, estimated daily intake (EDI), target hazard quotient (THQ), and hazard index (HI) for potentially toxic elements, and Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) values for mineral nutrients were calculated. In some samples in industrial and mining areas, accumulation of some potentially toxic elements was slightly above the permissible limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). In Summary, the importance of collecting medicinal plants from protected areas such as mountainous rural areas, far from mining, close to clean rivers, and regular control of values with potentially toxic elements analyzes for human health has been understood once again.

As the rest of the world, Kyrgyzstan suffers from the pollution in recent years as a result of urbanization following of economic and industrial development along with population growth. The negative effects of the pollution on organisms are observed all over the world. This is especially important for the plants consumed as food or medicinal purposes. Although the researches in many countries have been done on heavy metal pollution as well as on mineral nutrition statuses of herbs, similar researches performed in Kyrgyzstan have been limited. For this reason, this research comprising of elemental analysis of 90 different plant species used in three different Kyrgyz bazaars, namely Osh, Ortosai and Alamedin has been conducted in order to make estimation on the rate of pollution and the effects of pollution. One of the most important steps in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) technology is sample preparation. For the parts of the each plant sample, 8 mL of 65% HNO3 was used using Teflon cell. The prepared samples were thawed in a Berghof –MSW2 microwave. The concentrations (in mg kg-1 ) of Al, B, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, and Zn in the dried samples have been determined by employing ICP- OES (PerkinElmer - Optima 7000DV). Although, the heavy metals determined in the medicinal plants have been found to be within the normal ranges, the allowable limits for some elements have been exceed. As observed: Al and Cu contents in Aconitum soongaricum, Urtica dioica and Eminium regelli; Cu and Fe contents in Antennaria dioica and Pastinaca sp.; Al and Fe contents in Cetraria islandica, Helianthus annuus, Chelidonium sp., Cichorium sp., Origanum vulgare, Ferula sp., Spongilla sp., Taraxacum sp. and Veronica sp.; Cd and Cu contents in Lemna sp. and Ferula sp.; Al, Cd and Fe contents in Salvia sclarea; Al, Cu and Fe contents in Viola sp. and Centaurea sp.; Al, Cd, Cu and Fe contents in Helichrysum arenarium; Al, Cu, Mn and Ni contents in Mentha piperita; and Al, Cu, Fe and Ni contents in Calendula sp. were found to be higher than normal limits. On the other hand, Cr and Pb contents were in acceptable ranges in all plants used. Heavy metals found in medicinal plants through food chain cause serious health problems in human. Therefore, safe and high quality consumption of herbs can be only provided by conducting comprehensive analyzes during the production processes of herbal goods. Medicinal plants contain important essential elements involved in metabolic processes; however, containing high concentrations of these elements also lead to medical problems. Hence, it is of great importance to determine the accumulation rates of minerals in medicinal plants. Finally, identification of possible contamination factors in the food chain (from the field to humans) is important to take the necessary precautions for the safe production. Keywords: Bishkek, Ethnobotany, Heavy metals, Medicinal plants, Nutrient elements

Tomato is one of the most widely cultivated (conventionally, greenhouse or soilless agriculture) and important agricultural products among the members of the Solanaceae family as well as all vegetables. It also plays a significant role in healthy dietary nutrition with its ingredients such as lycopene which gives its natural color and is an abundant free radical scavenger, anthocyanin and vitamin contents. Soil properties and fertilization is a significant parameter for yield, mineral content and fruit quality of tomato. Turkey is one of the largest tomato producers in the world after China, India and the USA. Aim of this study aim is to determine the some macro and micro elements of edible tomato fruits from various origins of a significant producer country (Turkey) and also to compare the differences with tomatoes grown with different methods both in Turkey and other tomato producing countries. One of the most important steps in inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) technology is sample preparation. For the parts of each plant sample, the EPA 3051A analytical method was applied using nitric acid in Teflon cells. The prepared samples were thawed in a CEM Mars 5 microwave. The concentrations (in mg kg-1 ) of, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na and Zn in the dried samples have been determined by employing ICP- MS (Agilent 7700 Series). The order of locations with respect to the element concentrations from the highest to the lowest is Mediterranean and Southeastern Anatolia Regions>Marmara Region>Aegean Region>West part of Central Anatolia Region. Based on available elemental concentrations from the study conducted in major Turkish tomato production centers, we can extrapolate ideas about the necessary fertilization programs from mineral nutrients contents of tomato fruits. Statistically significant differences were obtained in mineral nutrients from greenhouse and field samples except for Mg, Mn, and Zn due to the fact that intensive regimes of production and fertilization were practiced in greenhouses. In terms of mineral nutrient content, tomato samples collected from different parts of Turkey showed close similarity with previous studies except for K content. K content was detected to be low in comparison with previous results. The K fertilization may have been ignored in the major tomato production sites of Turkey in contrast to other parts of the world. Keywords: Solanum lycopersicum L., Nutriens, Field, Greenhouse, ICPMS, Bioaccumulation

This research was carried out in the vicinity of Kant Cement Plant located in Issyk-Ata district, Cuy region of Kyrgyzstan. Kant Cement Plant produces approximately 600,000-700,000 tonnes of cement per year. Because of the cement production, a large amount of cement dust release containing some heavy metals and other toxic substances occurs in the nearby environment. The aim of our research was to investigate the negative effects of the cement dust spreading around on living organisms. In this research, the reed plant (Phragmites australis L.) was used as a study material to determine the rate pollution observed nearby Kant via the detection of heavy metal and nutrient element contents (Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb and Zn) of the collected plant and co-located soil samples using ICP-OES. Also, the total chlorophyll contents in the leaves of the plant samples was measured using CCM-200 plus (Opti-Sciences). The lowest and highest heavy metal and mineral element contents of the plant samples (in mg kg1 ) were found to be as: 119.30 (in stems) and 3908.11 (in roots) for Al in stations 9 and 6; 12.52 (in stems) and 47.88 (in unwashed leaves) for B in control (1) and station 6; 3432.38 (in stems) and 10120.64 (in roots) for Ca in control (1) and station 6; 125.95 (in washed leaves) and 87.38 (in stems) for Cd in control (1) and station 6; 6.74 (in stems) and 24.56 (in roots) for Cr in control (1) and station 6; 3.92 (in stems) and 28.13 (in unwashed leaves) for Cu in control (1) and station 6; 303.82 (in stems) and 1100.86 (in unwashed leaves) for Fe in control (1) and station 6; 5334.55 (in stems) and 23789.68 (in unwashed leaves) for K in control (1) and station 6; 692.44 (in stems) and 3352.71 (in unwashed leaves) for Mg in control (1) and station 6; 33.94 (in stems) and 391.22 (in roots) for Mn in control (1) and station 6; 162.30 (in stems) and 709.03 (in unwashed leaves) for Na in control (1) and station 6; 3.5 (in stems) and 19.61 (in roots) for Ni in control (1) and station 6; 2.25 (in stems) and 20.41 (in unwashed leaves) for Pb in control (1) and station 6; and 35.94 (in stems) and 147.65 (in roots) for Zn in control (1) and station 6, respectively. The lowest and highest heavy metal and mineral element contents of the soil samples (in mg kg-1 ) were found to be as: 30034.07 and 38334.45 for Al in stations 9 and 6; 39.61 and 80.32 for B in control (1) and station 6; 11832.33 and 23922.33 for Ca in control (1) and station 6; 165.38 and 1457.8 for Cd in control (1) and station 6; 20.79 and 42.29 for Cr in control (1) and station 6; 14.8 and 45.84 for Cu in control (1) and station 6; 17390.18 and 35158.99 for Fe in control (1) and station 6; 10230.83 and 20684.6 for K in control (1) and station 6; 4356.34 and 8807.68 for Mg in control (1) and station 6; 598.38 and 1210.04 for Mn in control (1) and station 6; 1163.76 and 2353.09 for Na in control (1) and station 6; 27.68 and 56.16 for Ni in control (1) and station 6; 18.47 and 77.94 for Pb in control (1) and station 6; and 136.29 and 275.73 for Zn in control (1) and station 6, respectively. When the results obtained from our work were compared with the controls, it showed that the Cement plant in Kant cause pollution in nearby environment by the way of releasing heavy metals including Cd, Cr, Pb and Ni (partially). Kyrgyzstan is a country recently showing an increasing growth trend. As a result of high rate of urbanization following of economic and industrial development, Kyrgyzstan encounters with the problems related with pollution. From our work, the recommendation to the local authorities to take necessary precautions before the pollution reaching dangerous levels. By our work, the recommendation would be to the local authorities to take necessary precautions before the pollution reaching dangerous levels. Keywords: Phragmites australis, Biomonitoring, Heavy Metal Pollution, Cement Dust, Kant

Kaz Dağı, Homeros’un İlyada destanında da belirttiği gibi mitolojide önemli olduğu kadar bitki türleri zenginliği bakımından da Türkiye’nin en önemli bölgelerinden biridir. Türkiye’de bulunan 39 milli parktan 23.’sü olan Kaz Dağı Milli Parkı, 877.777 hektar alana sahiptir. Edremit Körfezi’nin kuzeyinde, Çanakkale ve Balıkesir İllerinin arasında yer alan Kaz Dağı, Ege ve Marmara Denizine komşu olması ve 1774 m yüksekliğe sahip olması gibi özellikleriyle geniş bir biyoçeşitliliği bünyesinde barındırmaktadır. Çalışmamızın konusu olanFerulago trachycarpaBoiss. bitkisinin de içerisinde bulunduğu, Türkiye’de sekizinci büyük familya olan Apiaceae (Maydonozgiller) 101 cins ve 451 tür ile temsil edilmektedir.F. trachycarpaekonomikve tıbbi özellikleri ile ön planda çıkan bir bitkidir. Bileşiminde sabit yağ: sabit yağın içinde de monoterperler ile seskiterpenler bulunur. Taban yaprakları ilkbaharda toplanır ve salata olarak yenir. Halk arasında kurt kulağı, kuzu kulağı, kişniş, kuzubaşı, kuzu kemirdi olarak bilinen ve 40-90 cm boylarında, kazık köklü, şemsiyemsi, sarı çiçekli, özel kokulu, çok yıllık, otsu bir bitkidir. Çiçeklenme periyodu Nisan-Ağustos aylarıdır. Genellikle 870-2900 m rakımda kaya çatlaklarında ve kayalık yamaçlarda yayılış gösterir. Bu çalışmadaF. trachycarpabitkisinin bitki ve torprak örneklerindeki Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na ve Zn elementleri ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry) cihazı ile analiz edilerek bitki mineral element ve toprak bitki etkileşimlerinin tespit edilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Yapılan analizlerde toprakta tespit edilen mineral element değerleri (mg/kg) Ca için 1792; Cu için 10,51; Fe için 1649; K için 2917,333; Mg için 1926,667; Mn için 249,067; Na için 140,400; Zn için 5,972 olarak tespit edilmiştir. İncelenen elementlerin topraktaki beklenen ortalama değerlerine göre incelendiğinde Ca, K, Na ve Zn elementi miktarlarının ortalama değerlerden düşük, diğer elementlerin ise normal aralıkta olduğu görülmektedir. Analizlerde bitki kısımlarında saptanan mineral elementlerin en düşük ve en yüksek değerleri (mg/kg) ise Ca için 1361,78-4510,39; Cu için 41,99-72,35; Fe için 98,52-360,69; K için 2256,73-7530,71; Mg için 1075,36-3255,46; Mn için 40,22-75,35; Na için 33,63-163,85 ve Zn 105,928-165,013 olarak tespit edildi. Cu elementi miktarının bitki kısımlarında düşük, diğer elementlerin miktarlarının ise beklenen değerlerde olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bu çalışmadaF. trachycarpabitkisinin bulunduğu ortamın koşullarına göre sağlıklı olarak yaşayabilecek şekilde elemenleri topraktan sağladığı düşünülebilir.Anahtar Kelimeler:Apiaceae, Kurt kulağı, Kuzu kulağı, Biyoakümülasyon, Mineral element