Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/67941

KEYWORDS : edible fern;tropical peatland;wild vegetable;heavy metal contents;iron and mineral supplier

Young leaves of two wild ferns (Diplazium esculentum and Stenochlaena palutris) are uniquely eaten among local peoples in Kalimantan Island. These edible ferns are regarded as important sources of Fe and other trace elements essential for human body. In order to investigate the effect of soil environments on the metal content, we analyzed eight elements (Al, Fe, Cr, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cs, and Pb) in the edible ferns collected from five different sites (riverside of Kahayan River near Bukit Rawi, farming area in Tangkiling, natural forest near Kasongan, and two peat soils at campus of The University of Palangkaraya and residential area in Palangkaraya city) in Central Kalimantan with distinguishable soil conditions. At the five sampling locations, we also collected an aluminum accumulator bush tree (Melastoma malabathricum) as a reference plant. The underground parts of S. palutris and D. esculentum accumulated higher concentration of Al and Fe than their leaf parts, whereas M. malabathricum was rich in Al and Mn in the leaves rather than the roots. Although Fe contents in the edible parts of D. esculentum (3.1–3.3 μg/g-dry weight of young leaves) and S. palutris (1.0–2.1 μg/g dw leaves) from the samples collected at the riverside and the farming area were not so high, Al contents in their edible parts (3.9–6.3 and 7.8–7.9 μg/g-dry weight, respectively) were not excessive. Other trace elements, including Mn, was not the levels to be concerned. Thus, utilizing young leaves and shoots of the ferns as wild vegetable seemed to cover chronical deficiency of trace elements necessary for human nutrition, without any excessive intake of Al and other toxic metals, unless collected at urban area. We further found relatively high Cs-absorbable cropping plants in this study.