ASSESSMENT OF ECOLOGICAL SAFETY OF PLANT RAW MATERIALS OF CULTIVATED MEDICINAL PLANT SPECIES IN THE FOOTHILL ZONE OF ZAILIYSKY ALATAU

Abstract

In the field of plant biodiversity conservation, the primary task is to create collections of living plants that ensure the preservation of the gene pool and serve as a scientific basis for conducting comprehensive experimental research. The ecological conditions of the cultivated medicinal plant plot of the Main Botanical Garden (Almaty), located in the steppe zone of the Zailiysky Alatau range within the North Tien Shan Mountain province, can indirectly influence the processes of organogenesis and the chemical composition of plants through the pollution of the atmosphere, soil, and water. One manifestation of anthropogenic impacts on plants is the presence of heavy metals in them, especially lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg). Therefore, the issue of the ecological purity of medicinal plants is relevant, necessitating research to determine the content of heavy metals in the soil and plant raw materials. Soil and plant raw material samples were analyzed using generally accepted methods for chemical analysis of soils and plant raw materials. The article provides data on the morphogenetic properties of cultivated soils and plant raw materials of six cultivated medicinal plant species from the Lamiaceae family: Betonica betoniciflora, Leonurus turkestanicus, Salvia deserta, Mentha longifolia, Thymus marschallianus, Ziziphora clinopodioides regarding the content of toxic (Pb, Cd) and mineral (Zn, Cu) elements. It was found that the concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu) in the soils of the plot are within the maximum permissible concentrations (MPC), and in the studied samples of plant raw materials do not exceed the MPC for food plants and plant-based biologically active supplements

Keywords: Zailiysky Alatau, medicinal plants, morphogenetic properties of soils, heavy metals, ecological safety