Texas A&M University researchers have built a global database of the elements found in plants. The study was published in ACS Environmental Au. It compiles measurements from 5,474 plant samples across 73 countries, covering 52 elements, 21 climate classes and 26 soil groups.
The work grew out of questions about growing plants on the moon and Mars. Harrison Coker, a doctoral researcher in the university's Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, said the team needed to learn more about plants on Earth first to answer those space questions. Researchers said plants can absorb elements from the soil and other surroundings, and those elements become part of plant tissue.
The database includes dozens of elements beyond the nutrients typically linked to plant growth. Coker is a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity fellow. The international group was brought together by the Moon Village Association.