Centaurium erythraea(Gentianaceae) is a medicinal plant species with therapeutic potential officially listed in the pharmacopoeias of many European, Asian and American countries. It has had many uses in natural medicine since ancient times and it is collected mostly from wild populations. The aim of this study is to investigate the trace element composition ofC.erythraeausing instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The results of the performed investigations show that INAA has proved to be an efficient analytical technique for the determination of trace elements in medicinal plants. The studied plant contains elements important to the human diet and metabolism that are needed for growth, development and the prevention and curing of disease. A comparison with the reference levels of elements for plants shows that the concentrations of most elements inC.erythraeacollected from all types of sites exceed those regarded as the reference. Compared to the values of the elements inC.erythraeafrom rural areas (LP), the concentrations of most of the investigated elements inC.erythraeacollected from the lignite basin, urban areas and in the vicinity of the A4 highway (MP) were significantly higher. The results obtained can be used for control and monitoring in the production of pharmaceuticals based on natural medical plants.