Distribution of Minerals in Young and Mature Leaves of Different Leaf Vegetable Crops Cultivated in a Field

At least 17 elements are known to be essential for plants; however, plants also absorb and accumulate various nonessential elements. Plants re-translocate different elements, including essential and nonessential elements, with differing efficiencies from mature to young developing organs via the phloem transport, resulting in different distributions of minerals in these organs. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the concentrations of 23 elements in young and mature leaves of different leaf vegetable crops to comprehensively understand the mineral dynamics in plants. The allocation profiles of minerals in leaves of varying ages differed among species. For example, a higher molybdenum allocation profile was observed in young crown daisy (Glebionis coronaria) leaves, which might be related to the efficient nitrate assimilation in young leaves of this species. Thus, this study provides a new insight into the mineral uptake and transport mechanisms in plants.