First comprehensive study on total contents and hot water extractable fraction of selected elements in 19 medicinal plants from various locations in Nyamira County, Kenya.

A large number of medicinal plants is traditionally known in Kenya and used for treatment of various diseases, for example diabetes, where metals are supposed to be involved in pathogenesis and therapy. Therefore, detailed investigation of the concentration of a large number of metals in medicinal plants is required for improved understanding and optimisation of the therapeutic role of metals and also to exclude potentially toxic effects. Our study focused on the determination of 30 selected elements in 19 medicinal plant species each collected from 3 sampling locations in Nyamira County, Kenya.