The Voronezh region is traditionally the most important area of crop production and farming. The purpose of the study was to study the contamination by heavy metals of medicinal vegetable raw materials of the Voronezh region on the example of the grass of the five-plant desert collected in urban and agro-ecological systems, which experience different anthropogenic effects. The accumulations of heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, chromium) and arsenic were studied, in 51 samples of five-layer desert grass. Comparing the data on heavy metal content in the upper soil layers of the region and the content of these elements in the grass of the five-layer desert, it can be assumed that there are significant physiological barriers to the accumulation of ecotoxicants in the generative organs of the plant, which is particularly noticeable for elements such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt and chromium. The five-point desert is able to selectively concentrate some heavy metals entering the active centers of enzyme systems (such as copper and zinc) if their environmental content is below some vital level; With a significant content of these elements in soils, the plant also physiologically blocked their entry into the leaves. Thus, for a five-layer desert under anthropogenic load conditions, an edaphotype is formed as a result of the action of selection under conditions of man-made pollution of the external environment and the manifestation of adaptation to these conditions. The results of studies have shown that the grass of the five-plant desert is able to accumulate toxic elements from soils, which is important in planning the places of production of medicinal vegetable raw materials and assessing its quality.