A study on ionomic indices of Zataria multiflora Boiss.:an Iranian native medicinal plant

Zataria multiflora Boiss. is one of the valuable and endangered medicinal plants used in food and medicine industries. A study was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in four habitats of Isfahan, Fars, Yazd and Hormozgan provinces to investigate some of the mineral elements of Zataria multiflora Boiss. (Shirazian thyme) and also for comparing the accumulation of heavy metals in some natural habitats of the country. The mineral elements of this medicinal plant including micronutrients and a number of essential and high-consumption elements such as iron, zinc, manganese, copper, magnesium, sodium, calcium, potassium and a number of metals such as chromium, cobalt, silicon, lead, arsenic, nickel, cadmium, vanadium, totally 17 elements, were measured by using an inductively coupled plasma measuring apparatus (ICP-OES). The results of analysis of variance showed a significant difference among habitats for all elements except arsenic, cadmium and mercury (P