Determination of heavy metal on leaves, roots, and stems of three different types of edible plants at Jalan Berlian, Jengka, Pahang / Huda Asilah Hamzah

This study is done to determine the concentration of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in three types of plants which are Chromolaena odorata, Athyrium esculentum and Lantana camara. The plants are chosen based on their ability to absorb heavy metals and also their benefits as source of food and medicinal purposes. The sampling site is at Jalan Berlian, Bandar Jengka, Pahang which is near to the Jengka Sentral bus terminal. The heavy metals is analysed by using two types of atomic absorption spectrometer; flame-AAS and graphite furnace-AAS. The most accumulated heavy metal in the plant is Fe because of its natural occurrence and the lowest is cadmium since it is a rare heavy metal. The result from the analysis shows that most of the heavy metal does not exceed the permissible level allowed by WHO/FAO except Pb and Fe. To compare the three types of plants, Lantana camara can absorb the highest concentration of heavy metal compared to the other two species.