# Elemental Profiles of Wild _Thymus_ L. Plants Growing in Different Soil and Climate Conditions
## 3 Results and Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline
**Element** & _Thymus vulgaris_ & _Thymus vulgaris_ & _Thymus_ & _Thymus_ & _Thyme_ & _Thymus vulgaris_ \\  & _vulgaris_ & _seryellum_ & _marschallians_ & _(Thymbra spicata)_ & _Thymus vulgaris_ \\ \hline Al & 6.35–7.90 & & & & & 81.6 & \\ Ba & & & & & 7759 & **21,100** \\ Ca & & & & & 0.15 & \\ Cr & 0.83 & & & & 0.57 & \\ Cu & & 4.1 & 7.2 & & 6.1 & **8.8** \\ Fe & & 111.5 & 267.3 & & 440 & 427 \\ K & & & & & 14,708 & **14,700** \\ Mg & & & & **2115** & & \\ Mn & & 60.9 & 84.9 & & **116** & 19.3 \\ Na & & & & & 106.5 & \\ Ni & & & & & 1.5 & \\ Pb & **0.62** & **1.12** & & & & \\ Si & & & & **22,100** & & \\ Sr & & & & & 45.6 & 26.8 \\ Zn & & **32.8** & 14.4 & & 22.4 & **35.1** \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline
**Gathering place** & **Spain, supermarket** & **Austria, near Vienna** & & **Turkey, supermarket** & \
\begin{tabular}{c} Syria, \\ supermarket \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Method & ETA–AAS & ETA–AAS, FAAS & & ICP-MS & PIXE \\ \hline Reference & [25; 26] & [27] & [15] & [29] & [28] \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline
**Element** & \begin{tabular}{c} _Thymus vulgaris,_ \\ _Labiatae_ \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} _Thyme pannonics All._ \\ _(Lamiaceae)_ \\ \end{tabular} & _Thymus vulgaris_ & _Thymus seryllium_ & \
\begin{tabular}{c} _Thymus_ \\ _bailakensis_ \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Al & & & & & 6700 & 2140 \\ Ba & 18,06 & & & 200 & 117 \\ Ca & **13,810** & **7886.1–26,580.94** & **18,066** & **8715** & 10,450 \\ Co & 0.193 & & & 1.0 & 1.6 \\ Cr & 0.97 & 0.41–1.41 & & 3.3 & 10 \\ Cu & **12.17** & **7.04–14.59** & **15** & **13** & 32 \\ Fe & 301 & 89.5–749.91 & **1194** & **2520** & **1975** \\ K & & & **8006.06–23,066.93** & **10,160** & **5040** & **19,200** \\ Mg & **1670** & **1820.34–3802.95** & **2150** & **5025** \\ Mn & 44.5 & 20.5–219.09 & **150** & **132** & **114** \\ Na & & & 2.53–114.01 & & 2140 & 1315 \\ Ni & 2.34 & 1.35–**16.22** & & **10.8** & **9.4** \\ Pb & & & & **1.30** & **0.60** \\ Si & & & & **29,100** & **10,900** \\ Sr & 27.60 & & & & 86 & 57 \\ Zn & 20.4 & **33.85–106.66** & **51** & **44.7** & **48.5** \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline
**Gathering place** & \begin{tabular}{c} Turkey, \\ supermarket \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} Serbia \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} Spain \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} Russia, \\ Irkutsk \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Method & ICP–MS, ICP-AES & ICP–AES, FAAS, GFAAS & TRXF & DC–arc AES \\ \hline Reference & [30] & [23] & [31] & This article \\ \hline \end{tabular} Note. Empty cells–no data.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: The elemental contents (mg/kg) in the leaves and spices of the Thymus plant, found by different analytical methods. in growing conditions and, possibly, specific pre-treatment of the leaves before being sold for use as a dried herb. Thus, the genetic relationship linking plants from different regions of the world is observed. Analytical traceability is also present for the results of elements from 1 to 6, obtained mainly using different methods of atomic absorption spectrometry (i.e., FAAS, ETA-AAS and GFAAS), for elements 11-18 found using one or more analytical methods, such as ICP-AES, ICP-MS, FAES, TRXF or X-ray analysis, including different options for chemical preparation of plant samples (acid digestion, melting, etc.). However, the highest number of simultaneous element concentrations (24 elements) was determined using the DC-arc AES method without the use of ashing or acid digestion of plant samples.