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Topic · Analytical Chemistry

Heavy Metals in Plants

Heavy Metals in Plants is a research topic within Analytical Chemistry. Science Explorer counts 15k research works in it since 1951. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the analysis of trace elements, heavy metals, and mineral content in medicinal plants and teas, with a particular emphasis on Ilex paraguariensis. It explores the health implications, antioxidant activity, and potential toxic contaminants associated with these elements in herbal medicines and beverages.

  • Trace Elements
  • Medicinal Plants
  • Tea
  • Heavy Metals
  • Mineral Content
  • Antioxidant Activity
  • Ilex paraguariensis
  • Chemical Composition
  • Health Implications
  • Toxic Contaminants
Research works
15k
fractional, since 1951
In the world top 10%
1.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+22%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
28% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Heavy Metals in Plants

Which countries lead Heavy Metals in Plants research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (712 and 430 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 712 works
  2. 2 India 430 works
  3. 3 Brazil 238 works
  4. 4 Nigeria 211 works
  5. 5 Türkiye 201 works
  6. 6 Iran 190 works
  7. 7 United States 157 works
  8. 8 Pakistan 145 works
  9. 9 Iraq 110 works
  10. 10 Poland 105 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 28.5%India: 17.2%Brazil: 9.5%Nigeria: 8.5%6 others listed: 36.3%28%largest
China712 · 28.5%India430 · 17.2%Brazil238 · 9.5%Nigeria211 · 8.5%6 others listed908 · 36.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Heavy Metals in Plants research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences publishes the most Heavy Metals in Plants research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Islamic Azad University, Tehran.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesChina 56 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 39 works
  3. 3 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 29 works
  4. 4 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 24 works
  5. 5 King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 20 works
  6. 6 Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchIndia 18 works
  7. 7 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural AffairsChina 16 works
  8. 8 Salahaddin University-ErbilIraq 14 works
  9. 9 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 13 works
  10. 10 Zhejiang UniversityChina 13 works

Who are the leading researchers in Heavy Metals in Plants?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Heavy Metals in Plants include Amirhossein Sahebkar and Nicholas G. Martin.

  1. 1 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k citations
  2. 2 Nicholas G. Martin Australia 228k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Heavy Metals in Plants?

The most cited paper in Heavy Metals in Plants is "Quantitative assessment of worldwide contamination of air, water and soils by trace metals" (Jerome O. Nriagu, Józef M. Pacyna, 1988), with 4,396 citations. Next come "Heavy metals, occurrence and toxicity for plants: a review" (3,978) and "Phytoremediation of heavy metals—Concepts and applications" (3,938).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Quantitative assessment of worldwide contamination of air, water and soils by trace metals Jerome O. Nriagu, Józef M. Pacyna · Nature May 1988 4,396
2 Heavy metals, occurrence and toxicity for plants: a review P. C. Nagajyoti, K. D. Lee, T.V.M. Sreekanth · Environmental Chemistry Letters 27 Jul 2010 3,978
3 Phytoremediation of heavy metals—Concepts and applications Hazrat Ali, Ezzat Khan, Muhammad Anwar Sajad · Chemosphere 7 Mar 2013 3,938
4 Heavy Metals in Contaminated Soils: A Review of Sources, Chemistry, Risks and Best Available Strategies for Remediation Raymond Ahulle Wuana, Felix Ebhodaghe Okieimen · ISRN Ecology Open access 24 Oct 2011 3,844
5 Microbial heavy-metal resistance Dietrich H. Nies · Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 22 Jun 1999 2,519
All 97 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Heavy Metals in Plants research done?

The largest centres of Heavy Metals in Plants research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Tehran (Iran), Hangzhou (China) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Erbil and Faisalabad.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 114 works
  2. 2 TehranIran 59 works
  3. 3 HangzhouChina 47 works
  4. 4 NanjingChina 36 works
  5. 5 DhakaBangladesh 35 works
  6. 6 MoscowRussia 32 works
  7. 7 New DelhiIndia 31 works
  8. 8 RiyadhSaudi Arabia 29 works
  9. 9 WuhanChina 29 works
  10. 10 GuangzhouChina 27 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ErbilIQ · 23.5 works15×
  2. FaisalabadPK · 23.3 works12×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Heavy Metals in Plants than the world average.

See Heavy Metals in Plants on the map

Where is the best place to study Heavy Metals in Plants?

Among universities, judged by research, King Saud University, Government College University, Faisalabad and Hunan Agricultural University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 18.02%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Hunan Agricultural U…King Saud UniversityAnhui Agricultural U…Government College U…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 83.624.1%6.0×20 +177.3%
2Government College University, FaisalabadPakistan 73.722.8%20.0×11 +48.7%
3Hunan Agricultural UniversityChina 64.926.0%22.3×12 +184.4%
4Anhui Agricultural UniversityChina 63.723.3%18.2×10 +12.0%
5Zhejiang UniversityChina 58.120.9%1.4×12 +25.4%
6University of Agriculture FaisalabadPakistan 55.716.0%16.2×9 +3.3%
7Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 50.812.4%5.0×29 -29.9%
8Sichuan Agricultural UniversityChina 47.616.9%10.1×10 +36.8%
9Banaras Hindu UniversityIndia 39.412.6%3.1×8 +30.1%
10Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyGhana 38.35.2%11.8×9 +147.5%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Heavy Metals in Plants, country by country

Is Heavy Metals in Plants research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 22% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Heavy Metals in Plants.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Heavy Metals in Plants as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.017% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%Heavy Metals in Plants0.017% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Heavy Metals in Plants over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Heavy Metals in Plants10.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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