# Nutrition in Herbal Plants Used in Saudi Arabia

Authors: Hanan Almahasheer
Journal: Scientifica
 (2020)

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## Abstract

Herbs are used for centuries by many people worldwide. This study derives insights into the use and content of herbs that are consumed among Saudi citizens. An online questionnaire was distributed to understand the basic information about Saudi citizens’ preference and daily patterns of herbal plants that are usually used as drinks. Moreover, concentrations of fourteen elements in twenty-one herbal plants that were indicated in the previous questionnaire were collected from the local market and then analyzed using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP). Mint leaves were significantly higher in most of the nutrients analyzed, and mint was the most popular drink among participants, followed by green tea and anise. Most of the citizens preferred to drink one cup only at home and believed that herbs are good for their health and potentially could help them to sleep better. The outcomes derived from this research could help future assessments of diet patterns among Saudi citizens.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Herbal plants, hereafter, herbs, are one of the most important sources of many elements that are vital for humans and animals’ diet and are used to prevent or treat diseases. These elements are necessary nutrients to their lives and are, therefore, needed in food as the body cannot synthesize them [1]. Herbs play an important role in politics, romance, religion, and health [2], and they are still used by millions of people globally, in particular as medicine as there are more than 50 elements considered as a major component of enzymes and proteins [3]. And optimal uptakes of nutrients may reduce health risk [4]; therefore, their use is increasing globally due to their low side effects when used moderately [5]. Hence, knowing the exact elemental composition of food and other products is important to understand the nutritive value [6], while the use of low nutritive refined food products may affect health [7]. Moreover, some of these are essential nutrients to a certain limit, e.g., iron and copper, whereas others, e.g., lead and cadmium, are poisonous [5].Most of the herbs are naturally grown in many regions around the planet and used from ancient times [8]. They are also used for culinary [9] cosmetics [10–12], and up to 80% of the world’s population depend on plant-derived drugs for medical purposes [13]. Also, green tea is a good example of the use of herbs that started for centuries in China and Japan [6] and is still used nowadays. However, for safety reasons, it is advisable to assess different pollutants before delivering those herbs to the end user (consumer) [14].Numerous attempts have been made to determine the element’s content in plants around the world, e.g., Nigeria [15] and Malaysia [16]. However, a quick search in Scopus with the keywords “herbal plant∗” and “nutrient∗” revealed that most of the published papers are from Asia, i.e., India, China, Iran, and Malaysia. Saudi Arabia's market is rich with various herbal plants that citizens are using as “traditional medicine,” many of those are coming from Asia and Africa, while the rest are harvested locally. Studies concerning elemental content of these herbs that are acquired from the Saudi market are rare, whereas herbal preference among citizens and their knowledge base have not hitherto been performed. As a result, the outcomes of this research would serve as a base for further assessments related to herbal plants in Saudi Arabia and describe patterns of practices among Saudi citizens.


## 2. Materials and Methods

### 2.1. Questionnaire

To assess the public preference regarding herbal plants that are usually used on a daily basis by people in Saudi Arabia, a survey was carried out online in 2018. The participants were asked before starting the survey if they do drink herbal tea; if no, the survey was terminated. The panel respondents who were above 18 years old were invited to participate via Google survey online (https://gsuite.google.com/products/forms/). However, only 44 participants were under 18 which corresponds to 4% only; therefore, their answers were not excluded from the results. Demographic characteristics (i.e., questions about sex, age, and educational stage were asked to identify the range of participants) are shown in Supplementary Table S1. The questionnaire was designed to include the following: From where do you get your herbs, why do you drink herbal tea, does it help you sleep, where do you drink it, how many cups per day, how many scoops of the herb do you use per cup, and which herbs do you drink, along with options to choose from which are in Supplementary Table S2. The questionnaire was in the Arabic language; then, the results were translated to English.


### 2.2. Collection of the Samples

Twenty-one herbal plants that were indicated in the previous questionnaire (Table1 and Figure 1) were collected from a local market in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. The material was already dried; therefore, three replicated samples (n = 3) from each herb were directly ground in an agate mortar. The scientific name and family of each herb were further investigated using Encyclopedia Britannica (http://www.britannica.com) and Herbal Encyclopedia (https://www.cloverleaffarmherbs.com).Table 1
Herbal plants used in this study.
Number
Name
Family
Part assayed
Common
Scientific
1
Lemon balm
Melissa officinalis
Labiatae
Leaves
2
Anise
Pimpinella anisum
Umbelliferae
Seeds
3
Olive leaves
Olea europaea
Oleaceae
Leaves
4
Cinnamomum
Cinnamomum verum
Lauraceae
Tree bark
5
Rose
Rosa species
Rosaceae
Flowers
6
Chamomile
Matricaria chamomilla
Asteraceae
Flowers
7
Roselle
Hibiscus sabdariffa
Malvaceae
Flowers
8
Fennel
Foeniculum vulgare
Umbelliferae
Seeds
9
Marjoram
Origanum majorana
Labiatae
Leaves
10
Ajwain
Trachyspermum ammi
Apiaceae
Seeds
11
Mugworts
Artemisia vulgaris
Asteraceae
Leaves and twigs
12
Sage
Salvia officinalis
Labiatae
Leaves and twigs
13
Laurel leaf
Laurus nobilis
Lauraceae
Leaves
14
Licorice
Glycyrrhiza glabra
Fabaceae
Roots
15
Maidenhair
Adiantum
Polypodiaceae
Leaves and twigs
16
Curcuma
Curcuma longa
Zingiberaceae
Rhizome
17
Star anise
Illicium verum
Schisandraceae
Seeds
18
Thyme
Thymus vulgaris
Lamiaceae
Leaves
19
Green tea
Camellia sinensis
Theaceae
Leaves
20
Mint
Mentha
Labiatae
Leaves
21
Dried black lime
Citrus aurantifolia
Rutaceae
FruitFigure 1
Images of herbal plants acquired and analyzed, which correspond to plants in Table1.


### 2.3. Chemical Analysis and Data Quality

Plant samples were already dried, then ground using a granite mortar, and photographed; then, 0.5 grams of the plant sample (i.e., leaves, stem, or seeds) was digested with 5 mL of concentrated HNO3 and 2 mL of H2O2 in polyethylene tubes at digestion systems for 2 hours at 100°C [17]. The digested samples were left to cool, then diluted to 45 mL with Milli-Q water (18.2 Ω/cm), then filtered with a Whatman filter paper of 44-micron size. Concentrations of fourteen elements: calcium (Ca), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), iodine (I), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), sodium (Na), nickel (Ni), phosphorus (P), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn), were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (Shimadzu, model 9820). To confirm the quality of the analysis, replicates and PanReac AppliChem multielement standard solution between the 20 samples were used. The analytical recovery of the standards and the duplicated samples is reported in Table 1.


### 2.4. Statistical Analysis

Descriptive statistics and general linear models were used to test the effects of differences among herbs for every single element as well as Tukey’s HSD (honestly significant difference) post hoc test was used to assess pairwise differences. Moreover, assuming that the average consumption of herbs is one spoon equivalent of 0.5 g, the estimated dietary intake (mg day−1) based on 70 kg body weight was calculated by dividing the nutrient concentration (mg kg−1) by 70. All statistics were computed using JMP v12 (Table 2).Table 2
Summary of certified standards and the duplicated samples measured, along with the selected wavelength of each element analyzed.
Element
Symbol
Wavelength
% Recovery
Standard
Duplicated samples
Calcium
Ca
220.86
99
86
Chromium
Cr
205.55
100
113
Copper
Cu
261.84
98
98
Iron
Fe
259.94
101
82
Iodine
I
178.28
112
89
Potassium
K
766.49
86
93
Magnesium
Mg
279.55
98
120
Manganese
Mn
260.57
96
88
Molybdenum
Mo
202.03
102
100
Sodium
Na
589.59
87
94
Nickel
Ni
231.60
100
94
Phosphorus
P
213.62
96
86
Selenium
Se
203.99
95
89
Zinc
Zn
213.86
98
95


## 2.1. Questionnaire

To assess the public preference regarding herbal plants that are usually used on a daily basis by people in Saudi Arabia, a survey was carried out online in 2018. The participants were asked before starting the survey if they do drink herbal tea; if no, the survey was terminated. The panel respondents who were above 18 years old were invited to participate via Google survey online (https://gsuite.google.com/products/forms/). However, only 44 participants were under 18 which corresponds to 4% only; therefore, their answers were not excluded from the results. Demographic characteristics (i.e., questions about sex, age, and educational stage were asked to identify the range of participants) are shown in Supplementary Table S1. The questionnaire was designed to include the following: From where do you get your herbs, why do you drink herbal tea, does it help you sleep, where do you drink it, how many cups per day, how many scoops of the herb do you use per cup, and which herbs do you drink, along with options to choose from which are in Supplementary Table S2. The questionnaire was in the Arabic language; then, the results were translated to English.


## 2.2. Collection of the Samples

Twenty-one herbal plants that were indicated in the previous questionnaire (Table1 and Figure 1) were collected from a local market in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. The material was already dried; therefore, three replicated samples (n = 3) from each herb were directly ground in an agate mortar. The scientific name and family of each herb were further investigated using Encyclopedia Britannica (http://www.britannica.com) and Herbal Encyclopedia (https://www.cloverleaffarmherbs.com).Table 1
Herbal plants used in this study.
Number
Name
Family
Part assayed
Common
Scientific
1
Lemon balm
Melissa officinalis
Labiatae
Leaves
2
Anise
Pimpinella anisum
Umbelliferae
Seeds
3
Olive leaves
Olea europaea
Oleaceae
Leaves
4
Cinnamomum
Cinnamomum verum
Lauraceae
Tree bark
5
Rose
Rosa species
Rosaceae
Flowers
6
Chamomile
Matricaria chamomilla
Asteraceae
Flowers
7
Roselle
Hibiscus sabdariffa
Malvaceae
Flowers
8
Fennel
Foeniculum vulgare
Umbelliferae
Seeds
9
Marjoram
Origanum majorana
Labiatae
Leaves
10
Ajwain
Trachyspermum ammi
Apiaceae
Seeds
11
Mugworts
Artemisia vulgaris
Asteraceae
Leaves and twigs
12
Sage
Salvia officinalis
Labiatae
Leaves and twigs
13
Laurel leaf
Laurus nobilis
Lauraceae
Leaves
14
Licorice
Glycyrrhiza glabra
Fabaceae
Roots
15
Maidenhair
Adiantum
Polypodiaceae
Leaves and twigs
16
Curcuma
Curcuma longa
Zingiberaceae
Rhizome
17
Star anise
Illicium verum
Schisandraceae
Seeds
18
Thyme
Thymus vulgaris
Lamiaceae
Leaves
19
Green tea
Camellia sinensis
Theaceae
Leaves
20
Mint
Mentha
Labiatae
Leaves
21
Dried black lime
Citrus aurantifolia
Rutaceae
FruitFigure 1
Images of herbal plants acquired and analyzed, which correspond to plants in Table1.


## 2.3. Chemical Analysis and Data Quality

Plant samples were already dried, then ground using a granite mortar, and photographed; then, 0.5 grams of the plant sample (i.e., leaves, stem, or seeds) was digested with 5 mL of concentrated HNO3 and 2 mL of H2O2 in polyethylene tubes at digestion systems for 2 hours at 100°C [17]. The digested samples were left to cool, then diluted to 45 mL with Milli-Q water (18.2 Ω/cm), then filtered with a Whatman filter paper of 44-micron size. Concentrations of fourteen elements: calcium (Ca), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), iodine (I), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), sodium (Na), nickel (Ni), phosphorus (P), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn), were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (Shimadzu, model 9820). To confirm the quality of the analysis, replicates and PanReac AppliChem multielement standard solution between the 20 samples were used. The analytical recovery of the standards and the duplicated samples is reported in Table 1.


## 2.4. Statistical Analysis

Descriptive statistics and general linear models were used to test the effects of differences among herbs for every single element as well as Tukey’s HSD (honestly significant difference) post hoc test was used to assess pairwise differences. Moreover, assuming that the average consumption of herbs is one spoon equivalent of 0.5 g, the estimated dietary intake (mg day−1) based on 70 kg body weight was calculated by dividing the nutrient concentration (mg kg−1) by 70. All statistics were computed using JMP v12 (Table 2).Table 2
Summary of certified standards and the duplicated samples measured, along with the selected wavelength of each element analyzed.
Element
Symbol
Wavelength
% Recovery
Standard
Duplicated samples
Calcium
Ca
220.86
99
86
Chromium
Cr
205.55
100
113
Copper
Cu
261.84
98
98
Iron
Fe
259.94
101
82
Iodine
I
178.28
112
89
Potassium
K
766.49
86
93
Magnesium
Mg
279.55
98
120
Manganese
Mn
260.57
96
88
Molybdenum
Mo
202.03
102
100
Sodium
Na
589.59
87
94
Nickel
Ni
231.60
100
94
Phosphorus
P
213.62
96
86
Selenium
Se
203.99
95
89
Zinc
Zn
213.86
98
95


## 3. Results

The range of participants who answered the online survey that was distributed through the social media was from 12 to 70 years old, with about 1200 participants in about 10 days (only 44 participants were under 18 years old which corresponds to 4% only; therefore, their answers were not excluded from the results). Female participants were the highest comprising about 77%, while male participants were only 23%. Details of age and sex along with the education level of participants are summarized in Supplementary TableS1.The majority of participants, i.e., 75% of the participants, have their herbal tea at home, and 22% of the participants drink it anywhere, whereas only 2% and 1% have it at the coffee shop or at work. Moreover, 79% of the participants believe that drinking herbal tea is good for health, while 15% prefer it just for the taste, 2% chose it for the smell, and 4% have other reasons. Interestingly, about 83% answered yes or maybe to the question about if they believe if the herbal tea would help them to sleep, while only 18% answered with no. Additionally, about 58% answered that they get it from their mothers or herb specialists, whereas 43% from the supermarket (Figure2 and Supplementary Table S2).Figure 2
Analyses of survey questions (from where do you get your herbs, why do you drink herbal tea, does it help you sleep, and where do you drink it?).Furthermore, 71% (i.e., 852 participants) of the 1200 preferred to drink only one cup of herb a day; 60% out of those (852 participants) prepared it with only one spoon, 8% prepared it using two spoons, and only 3% used three spoons. Moreover, 20% (i.e., 240 participants) of 1200 preferred to drink two cups of herb a day; 20% of those (240 participants) prepared it with only one spoon, 5% prepared it using two spoons, and only 2% used three spoons. Finally, only 28 participants preferred three cups a day, and 1%, 0.3%, and 0.8% preferred one, two, and three spoons per cup, respectively (Figure3 and Supplementary Table S2).Figure 3
Analyses of survey questions (how many cups do you consume per day, and how many scoops of herb do you use per cup?).The majority of the Saudi participants (about 85%) preferred to drink mint, followed by 69% favoring green tea and then 59% with anise. Moreover, Chamomile, Cinnamomum, Sage, Roselle, Thyme, Marjoram, and Fennel were intermediate with 44, 31, 30, 26, 22, 17, and 16% respectively while the rest (i.e., rose, curcuma, mugworts, ajwain, star anise, lemon balm, olive leaves, licorice, laurel leaf, maidenhair, and dried black lime) were ≤10% (Figure4).Figure 4
Analyses of the survey question, (which herbs do you drink?).Most of the elements analyzed, i.e., Ca, Cu, Fe, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Se, were significantly higher in mint, maidenhair, green tea, dried black lime, and laurel leaf whereas Zn, Na, and Mg were significantly higher in mugworts, and K was significantly higher in both mugworts and curcuma. Moreover, P, Mo, and I were significantly higher in lemon balm, dried black lime, and mint, respectively (Table3, Tukey’s HSD, P<0.05).Table 3
Average ± standard error (SE) of fourteen elemental concentrations (mg kg−1) for twenty-one herbs (n = 3) collected from Saudi Arabia.
Ca
Cr
Cu
Fe
I
K
Mg
Mn
Mo
Na
Ni
P
Se
Zn
Sage
429 ± 5de
339 ± 5bc
376 ± 3e
430 ± 4d
1210 ± 17defg
1970 ± 81ef
1467 ± 20cd
107 ± 2c
559 ± 8de
998 ± 80defg
388 ± 5c
1127 ± 23abcde
981 ± 12bcd
247 ± 5bc
Ajwain
345 ± 57de
203 ± 120c
269 ± 125e
159 ± 86d
724 ± 169ghij
1152 ± 179f
556 ± 398de
125 ± 9c
424 ± 62de
333 ± 173fg
233 ± 109c
840 ± 405def
569 ± 116efgh
185 ± 15ef
Anise
497 ± 6cde
299 ± 5bc
660 ± 14de
355 ± 5d
1087 ± 17efgh
9147 ± 116b
1503 ± 19cd
156 ± 6c
463 ± 8de
1303 ± 39defg
332 ± 5c
1447 ± 18abc
730 ± 8def
194 ± 3ef
Chamomile
323 ± 3e
274 ± 3c
308 ± 9e
360 ± 10d
1165 ± 49defgh
3855 ± 193de
981 ± 225cde
119 ± 3c
416 ± 1de
746 ± 86efg
309 ± 3c
1067 ± 169bcde
580 ± 18efg
190 ± 10ef
Cinnamomum
309 ± 27e
156 ± 49c
153 ± 24e
69 ± 24d
608 ± 34ghij
2213 ± 179ef
249 ± 12e
138 ± 16c
302 ± 38e
390 ± 80fg
169 ± 21c
433 ± 34f
417 ± 32fghi
120 ± 7g
Curcuma
280 ± 25e
224 ± 4c
178 ± 41e
235 ± 16d
550 ± 53hij
12133 ± 120a
907 ± 346de
135 ± 8c
327 ± 8e
342 ± 85fg
227 ± 8c
592 ± 14ef
388 ± 21ghi
121 ± 2g
Dried black lime
2693 ± 97a
1327 ± 48a
2977 ± 80ab
2533 ± 77a
2280 ± 76ab
6737 ± 155bc
1014 ± 36cde
834 ± 30a
1563 ± 304a
7467 ± 149bc
3050 ± 235a
1257 ± 43abcd
1317 ± 38a
251 ± 9abc
Fennel
610 ± 9cde
321 ± 7bc
593 ± 55de
293 ± 11d
1160 ± 20defgh
8750 ± 163b
1980 ± 21bc
177 ± 6c
516 ± 11de
2488 ± 998def
340 ± 8c
1587 ± 28ab
916 ± 23cd
197 ± 4def
Green tea
2623 ± 90ab
1293 ± 43a
3150 ± 121a
2607 ± 98a
2243 ± 97ab
7073 ± 286bc
990 ± 34cde
813 ± 28a
1267 ± 41ab
8433 ± 398bc
2860 ± 115a
1230 ± 55abcd
1297 ± 38ab
248 ± 10bc
Laurel leaf
2697 ± 85a
1327 ± 41a
2853 ± 186ab
2480 ± 121ab
2220 ± 145abc
6193 ± 315cd
1011 ± 31cde
834 ± 26a
1157 ± 66abc
6273 ± 496c
2607 ± 172a
1220 ± 58abcd
1287 ± 35ab
244 ± 9bcd
Lemon balm
453 ± 93cde
429 ± 2bc
388 ± 96e
555 ± 1d
1593 ± 3cde
1227 ± 116f
872 ± 602de
140 ± 1c
726 ± 3cde
155 ± 62fg
146 ± 93c
1673 ± 13a
1200 ± 6abc
289 ± 3ab
Licorice
1610 ± 538abc
416 ± 16bc
823 ± 44de
573 ± 51d
1027 ± 27efghi
3847 ± 102de
2560 ± 92b
196 ± 4c
608 ± 19de
3067 ± 397de
472 ± 23c
1110 ± 32abcde
944 ± 27cd
225 ± 9cde
Maidenhair
2733 ± 67a
1347 ± 33a
3310 ± 80a
2723 ± 67a
2337 ± 85ab
7557 ± 169bc
1030 ± 25cde
845 ± 20a
1317 ± 33ab
9243 ± 167b
3047 ± 69a
1287 ± 30abcd
1340 ± 32a
257 ± 5abc
Marjoram
301 ± 109e
343 ± 27bc
425 ± 43e
451 ± 65d
1192 ± 150defg
2187 ± 175ef
1280 ± 52cde
123 ± 6c
520 ± 46de
858 ± 144efg
386 ± 53c
1130 ± 166abcde
874 ± 93de
232 ± 9cde
Mint
2753 ± 37a
1357 ± 19a
3327 ± 34a
2720 ± 25a
2383 ± 46a
7727 ± 91bc
1040 ± 15cde
852 ± 11a
1313 ± 18ab
9560 ± 140a
3087 ± 39a
1297 ± 18abcd
1347 ± 24a
259 ± 3abc
Mugworts
1213 ± 18cde
560 ± 7bc
1560 ± 40cd
779 ± 14cd
1497 ± 19def
12667 ± 133a
6083 ± 87a
335 ± 7bc
899 ± 10bcd
15267 ± 145a
655 ± 8bc
1427 ± 19abcd
1320 ± 15a
300 ± 2a
Olive leaves
568 ± 79cde
225 ± 42c
403 ± 71e
177 ± 33d
883 ± 75fghi
2467 ± 413ef
971 ± 130cde
128 ± 13c
437 ± 38de
407 ± 102fg
378 ± 87c
888 ± 124cdef
824 ± 125de
171 ± 12f
Rose
143 ± 1e
143 ± 1c
41 ± 5e
77 ± 4d
242 ± 22j
587 ± 19f
564 ± 121de
68 ± 2c
367 ± 167e
576 ± 41fg
126 ± 0c
418 ± 9f
167 ± 11i
86 ± 1g
Roselle
285 ± 70e
349 ± 5bc
419 ± 17e
375 ± 34d
1210 ± 15defg
1980 ± 26ef
1490 ± 26cd
243 ± 5c
576 ± 9de
659 ± 71fg
440 ± 17c
1073 ± 12abcde
977 ± 6bcd
244 ± 3bcd
Star anise
204 ± 7e
153 ± 5c
191 ± 17e
139 ± 56d
395 ± 27ij
1122 ± 123f
514 ± 42de
172 ± 3c
352 ± 117e
54 ± 26g
162 ± 5c
427 ± 12f
254 ± 7hi
97 ± 3g
Thyme
150 ± 789bcd
762 ± 378b
1949 ± 876bc
1587 ± 735bc
1745 ± 427bcd
4185 ± 1891de
871 ± 184de
604 ± 243ab
902 ± 190bcd
3298 ± 1523d
1600 ± 761b
1055 ± 123bcde
1045 ± 171abcd
215 ± 26cdef
F ratio P value
22∗∗
26∗∗
35∗∗
36∗∗
31∗∗
67∗∗
38∗∗
31∗∗
17∗∗
93∗∗
38∗∗
10∗∗
39∗∗
43∗∗
The results (F ratio and Pvalue: ∗=0.05>P>0.01; ∗∗=P<0.01) from ANOVA. Different letters a, b, c, and d indicate significant differences among different herbs for every single element (Tukey’s HSD multiple comparison post hoc test, P<0.05).


## 4. Discussion

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is the sufficient amount of required nutrients that are needed for healthy individuals, which are established by the Food and Nutrition Board [18]. Herbal plants are one of the major resources of these nutrients and, therefore, the amount of nutrients in plants is one of the criteria that makes it favorable to use [6], although the paucity of these nutrients can lead to disease [1]. Many of them are essential nutrients for humans; e.g., iron is basic to hemoglobin and many enzymes, while calcium and phosphorous are essential components to bones, magnesium is important to all biosynthetic processes, and zinc is basic to many enzymes that are involved in metabolic pathways [19].The estimated dietary intake (mg day−1) in this study compared to the RDA varied among different elements. That is, Ca, K, Mg, Na, P, and Zn were within the recommended range of intake for males and females (Table 4) while Cr, Cu, I, Mo, and Se were higher than the range of the reported values and finally Fe and Mn were intermediate with seven herbs (i.e., black lime, green tea, laurel leaf, maidenhair, mint, mugworts, and thyme; Table 4) out of twenty-one being higher than the RDA values reported by Dell Valle et al. [20].Table 4
Median nutrient intake values by herbs based on 70 kg body weight (mg day−1).
Ca
Cr
Cu
Fe
I
K
Mg
Mn
Mo
Na
Ni
P
Se
Zn
Sage
6
5
5
6
17
27
21
2
8
14
6
16
14
4
Ajwain
4
2
5
2
8
15
3
2
5
5
4
6
7
3
Anise
7
4
10
5
15
132
21
2
7
18
5
21
10
3
Chamomile
5
4
4
5
17
55
14
2
6
11
4
15
8
3
Cinnamomum
5
2
2
1
9
32
4
2
5
6
2
7
6
2
Curcuma
4
3
2
4
8
174
10
2
5
5
3
9
5
2
Dried Black lime
40
20
43
37
33
97
15
12
18
105
40
19
19
4
Fennel
9
5
9
4
17
124
28
3
8
49
5
23
13
3
Green tea
37
18
45
37
33
101
14
12
18
120
41
17
19
4
Laurel leaf
39
19
42
35
31
91
15
12
17
91
38
17
18
4
Lemon Balm
8
6
5
8
23
17
5
2
10
2
1
24
17
4
Licorice
22
6
12
9
14
54
37
3
9
39
7
16
13
3
Maidenhair
40
20
48
40
34
110
15
12
19
133
44
19
19
4
Marjoram
4
5
6
6
16
30
18
2
7
11
5
17
12
3
Mint
40
20
48
39
34
111
15
12
19
137
44
18
19
4
Mugworts
17
8
23
11
22
183
88
5
13
219
9
21
19
4
Olive leaves
8
3
7
3
13
41
14
2
6
5
5
13
13
3
Rose
2
2
1
1
3
8
9
1
3
8
2
6
2
1
Roselle
5
5
6
6
17
28
21
3
8
9
6
15
14
4
Star anise
3
2
3
3
5
18
7
2
3
1
2
6
4
1
Thyme
22
12
40
30
30
85
15
12
15
63
30
16
16
3
Males (9 to >70 y)∗
1000–1300
0.03–0.04
0.07–0.09
8–11
0.1–0.2
4500–4700
240–420
1.9–2.3
0.03–0.05
1200–1500
—
700–1250
0.1
8–11
Females (9 to >70 y)∗
1000–1300
0.02–0.03
0.07–0.09
8–18
0.1–0.2
4500–4700
240–320
1.6–1.8
0.03–0.05
1200–1500
—
700–1250
0.1
8–9
∗RDA values from [20]Moreover, in this study, two-thirds of the participants were females, indicating a higher rate of use among females; this rate of female users was observed by the findings of Alghamdi et al. [21]. The growing interest of females to herbal drinks, e.g., tea, might be due to the daily news of their benefits that ranged from the protection of hip structure in elderly women [22] to cancer potential treatments and risks caused by diabetes [23].While there is no explanation why the majority drink only one cup of herbal tea preferring it at home compared to the work place, and around half of the participants acquire it from their moms or specialists, yet, in general, about 79% of the participants believed that herbal tea is good for their health compared to smell and taste, and 83% believed that it may help them sleep. Similarly, a recent study on two hundred patients in Saudi Arabia found that 76% of the patients with chronic illness had used herbal medicine [21], compared to a lower range of 10 to 52% in western countries [24]. And a higher range of migrants of about 75% uses herbal medicine in the west [25].Mint was the most popular herb among Saudi citizens, followed by green tea and anise. In Australia, mint comes as number seven of most sold herbs and spices in the supermarket for 2013 with about $2151500 of sales value [26]. However, many studies documented the effect of green tea as a potential treatment preventing cancer [27, 28]. Furthermore, most of the nutrients, i.e., Ca, Cu, Fe, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Se, were significantly higher in mint, maidenhair, green tea, dried black lime, and laurel leaf, whereas nutrients’ concentrations in this study, particularly, Zn, Na, K, and Mg, were significantly higher in mugworts compared to other herbs, which is coherent with early Chinese beliefs of the medical benefits of mugworts, as well as France in the middle ages, where they used it to protect babies from cold [2].Nevertheless, these herbs must be used with care, as many reports have documented the presence of toxic heavy metals and undeclared pollutants, e.g., in Asia [29–31] and Africa [32, 33].


## 5. Conclusion

The concentration of nutrients carried out was depending on the plant species analyzed; most of the herbs analyzed were within the RDA limits. However, participants who selected many cups per day or many spoons per cup could be at risk of bioaccumulation. In this study, mint leaves were significantly higher in most of the nutrients analyzed, and mint was the most popular drink among Saudi citizens, followed by green tea and anise.



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*Source: 6825074-2020-04-28.xml*