Roses in the City Environment: A Heavy Metals Case Study

Kutno is a picturesque city in central Poland, known for extensive rose breeding worldwide. Soil samples and rose petals were collected from 13 locations in the city and characterized by diverse environments. This allowed determining the response of plants to changing cultivation conditions. Rose petals have found a wide range of applications. They are used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The aim of the research was to assess the contents of Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni, Pb and Cr in soils and their accumulation in rose petals. Samples were subjected to the microwave mineralization process using a mixture of concentrated HCl and HNO₃. The metal contents in the soil and roses were determined by HR-CS-AAS and ICP-OES, respectively. Roses are usually cultivated in soils with a limited mobile fraction of heavy metals. In these unfavorable conditions, flower petals can absorb heavy metals substantially. Petals of roses cultivated for cosmetic, pharmaceutical or food purposes should be tested for heavy metal content. This study indicates that toxic metals are blocked at the root zone, and their transport to the above-ground parts is severely hampered. Nevertheless, metals related to the photo-synthesis process (Zn, Cu) are more intensively taken up by roses, while the uptake of toxic metals is partially inhibited.