Elemental Distribution and Health Risk Assessment of the Edible Fruits of Two Ficus Species, Ficus sycomorus L. and Ficus burtt-davyi Hutch Olumuyiwa O. Ogunlaja 1 & Roshila Moodley 1 & Himansu Baijnath 2 & Sreekantha B. Jonnalagadda 1 Received: 20 November 2019 /Accepted: 15 January 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract Edible fruits of two indigenous medicinal Ficus species (Ficus sycomorus L. and Ficus burtt-davyi Hutch) collected from eight different sites in South Africa were assessed for nutritional value, elemental concentration, and the possible risk associated with their consumption. The metal concentrations in the fruits and growth soil were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The results showed elemental concentrations in the fruits to contribute significantly to recommended dietary allowances and were found to be in decreasing order of Ca > Mg > Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Cr and Ca ˃ Mg ˃ Fe ˃ Mn ˃ Zn ˃ Cu for both F. sycomorus and F. burtt-davyi fruits. The results for proximate composition of F. sycomorus fruits were (in %) 55.8 for moisture, 25.3 for carbohydrates, 5.6 for protein, 8.9 for fats, 55.8 for crude fiber, and 4.4 for ash; for F. burtt-davyi fruits, it was (in %) 78.9 for carbohydrates, 5.0 for protein, 8.4 for lipids, 4.0 for crude fiber, and 3.7 for ash. The health risk assessment showed target hazard quotient, and hazard indices for all the studied heavy metals in the fruits for all the sites were to be less than one and the target carcinogenic risk values to be within the acceptable regulatory cancer risk range. This study confirms that the fruits of F. sycomorus and F. burtt-davyi are safe for human consumption due to low non- carcinogenic and carcinogenic adverse health effects. Keywords Heavy metals . Ficus sycomorus L . Ficus burtt-davyi hutch . Recommended dietary allowance . Human health risks Introduction Trees have been an essential part of human survival from the earliest time, providing basic needs such as shelter, firewood, medicine, and food. The use of indigenous plant foods to treat medical conditions of people dates back to time immemorial. Many Southern African trees have edible fruits, most of which are yet to be domesticated and developed into commercial crops [1]. Wild fruit trees are important to rural people, espe- cially children, as they introduce nutrient diversity to the diet in an environment where food choices are limited. In addition, the vitality of fruits to the human diet is linked to health- promoting components such as vitamins, essential minerals, antioxidants, and prebiotics (fibers) [2]. Epidemiological stud- ies have shown an inverse correlation between the consump- tion of fruits and the incidence of chronic diseases such as cancer [3, 4], diabetes [5], and heart disease [6]. Food safety is a major public health concern, and increased awareness has motivated research into the risks associated with the consumption of contaminated food products, partic- ularly, plant-based food products [7]. The occurrence of heavy metals in soils (natural geological occurrences and anthropo- genic inputs) and plant-based foods has been the focus of a number of studies as soil to plant transfer is a major route of contamination [8–11]. Although the efficacy of medicinal plants as a therapeutic agent is a result of the phytochemical constituents, prolonged ingestion can result in elemental accumulation, if at elevated levels in the plant [12, 13]. Heavy metals have been linked with toxicity associated with environmental pollution due to them being nonbiodegradable, having long biological half- lives (high residence time) and their potential to accumulate in different parts of plants [14–16]. Based on this, elemental screening of medicinal plants is paramount for quality control and safety [17, 18]. * Roshila Moodley moodleyrosh@ukzn.ac.za 1 School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa 2 School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa Biological Trace Element Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02048-4