Potassium (K) was found in the highest amount in the macroelements of the celery plant, followed by P, Ca, Mg, and S in decreasing order. P and K amounts of celery plant parts were measured between 619.57 (leaf of celery) and 1244.80 mg/kg (root of celery) to 5594.83 (head of celery) and 7587.35 mg/kg (root of celery), respectively. Exterior and interior parts of celery body contained 866.51 and 1017.45 mg/kg P, 6786.97 and 7325.07 mg/kg K, 615.13 and 491.59 mg/kg Ca, and 286.34 and 224.74 mg/kg Mg, respectively. In general, the celery part with the richest microelements was the leaves, followed in descending order by the head of celery, exterior of celery body, interior of celery body, and root. Fe and Mn contents of the parts of celery plants were recorded between 0.351 (interior of celery body) and 67.79 mg/kg (leaf of celery) to 2.70 (root) and 6.84 mg/kg (leaf of celery), respectively. The lowest and highest concentrations of each heavy metal were found in different parts of the celery plant. In general, the leaves were the part of the celery plant with the most heavy metals. As and Pb accumulated in large amounts in the inner parts of the celery tuber. The highest Pb (0.530 µg/g) was determined in interior of celery body. The highest Co (0.409 µg/g), Cr (0.377 µg/g), Mo (0.854 µg/g), and Ni (0.741 µg/g) were found in the leaf of celery plant.
Keywords: Celery; Heavy metals; ICP-OES; Macro- and microelement; Parts.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.