The purpose of this paper was to determine the content of microelements (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb and Cd) in the following medicinal plant species: lovage, garden iris, garden angelica, marshmallow, soapwort and common valerian. No research of this kind has been carried out in Yugoslavia.

Samples of the aforementioned plant species were taken from the experimental field of the Institute for Medicinal Plant Research "Dr Josif Pančić", which is located in Pančevo. The plants were grown on humogley soil. After necessary preparations, plant samples were digested with concentrated nitric and perchloric acids. The contents of the investigated microelements were determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The obtained results were statistically analysed (analysis of variance and lsd test).

The results obtained indicate that the investigated microelements could be arranged in the following order with respect to their content in the medicinal plants: Fe>Mn>Zn>Cu>Pb> Ni>Cr>Co>Cd. Statistically significant differences were found between the investigated medicinal plants with respect to the content of almost all microelements. There were no significant differences in the contents of Co and Cr. Marshmallow has the lowest content of Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni and Pb. This is the most utilised species (among the investigated) for the preparation of various pharmaceutical products. Besides marshmallow, valerian, angelica and lovage have important role in modern phytotherapy. The highest value for coefficient of variation was found for Fe content, which was in the range from 292 ppm (in marshmallow) to 1872 ppm (in valerian). The results obtained in this investigation are important from the standpoint of the use of these medicinal plants for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes.