best fruit 2013( procedure )890

7/27/2019 Best Fruit 2013( Procedure )890

1/6

Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 47-52, 2009 ISSN:1814-8085

MARKET BASKET SURVEY OF SELECTED METALS IN FRUITS

FROM KARACHI CITY (PAKISTAN)

Erum Zahir*, Iftikhar Imam Naqvi and Sheikh Mohi Uddin

Department of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Metals are essential for important biochemical and physiological functions and are necessary for maintaining health

throughout life. In order to assess the impact of human activity on the food chain, monitoring of trace metals in a variety

of fruits being sold in Karachis metropolis has been focus of this study. Trace levels of heavy metals such as Fe, Mn,

Pb, Cu, Co, Ni, Cd, Cr and Zn were determined in 10 different varieties of fruits purchased from local market of Karachi

city of Pakistan. The dried powdered samples were digested in 1: 3 mixtures of Perchloric acid (HClO 4)and Nitric acid

(HNO3) and metal levels were analyzed by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results were in the range of

7.924-24.674 ug/g Fe, 0.531-7.571 ug/g Pb, 0.013-0.612 ug/g Mn, 0.543-3.234 ug/g Cu, 0.144-5.033 ug/g Ni, 0.173-

0.299 ug/g Cd, 3.268-4.343 ug/g Cr, 0.138-21.409 ug/g Zn, 0.104-1.168 ug/g Co.

Key words: Heavy metals, Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, Acid digestion, fruits.

INTRODUCTION

Fruits natural staple food of humans, contain substantial

quantities of essential nutrients in a rational proportion. A

generous intake of fruits in the diet enables a person to

lead a healthy life. Fruits prevent all diseases and keep a

person energetic and active all through his life even up to

the ripe old age as in Table 1.

Concentration levels of elements in plants and fruits are

directly related to their interaction with all environmental,geological and biological systems (Bratter, P and Schrauel

P., 1980). Ingestion of heavy metals through food can

cause accumulation in organisms, producing serious

health hazards such as injury to the kidney, symptoms of

chronic toxicity, renal failure and liver damage (Abou-

Arab et al., 1999; Sathawara et al., 2004)

Table 1. Importance of Fruits in human Life

Botanical name Common Name Importance

Malus pumila Apple Rich in Iron, useful in acute and chronic dysentery among children, stomachdisorders, headache, heart disease, maintain blood pressure, dry hacking cough,

removing kidney stone, mouth cleansing property and makes the body strong.

Prunus armeniaca Apricot Rich in natural sugar, vitamin A, C and Calcium. Useful in treatment ofconstipation, anemia, skin diseases.

Musa hybrids Banana Rich in Potassium, protein, vitamins. Useful in intestinal disorders, dysentery,arthritist and gout patients, anemia, kidney and liver disorders, tuberculosis,weight reduction. Paste of ripe banana gives relief of burns and wounds.

Eugenia jambolana Jaman Rich in vitamin C, minerals, Proteins. Useful in diarrhea, dysentery, bleedingpiles, stimulate liver functions, effective for sterility and miscarriage.

Citrus limon Lemon Rich in Citric acid and vitamin C. Useful as a food accessory, destroy toxins inbody, curing of gum diseases, catarrh, constipation, diarrhea, obesity, different

haemorrhage, foot relaxation.

Mangifera indica Mango Rich in vitamins, minerals. Useful in treatment of night blindness, loss ofweight, diadetes, seed are useful in diarrhea, throat infections, constipation, eye

infections.

Cyphomandra betacea Tomato Rich in calcium, phosphorus, vitamins. Useful in skin, diabetic patients,acidosis, eye diseases, obesity, liver, diarrhea,

Manilkara zapota Chikoo Rich in water content, minerals and vitamins. Useful in inflammation duringurination, fever. It eliminates excessive bile in the body.

Phoenix dactylifera Date Rich in vitamins, minerals. Useful in treatment of sore throat, fever, cystitis,edema, liver and abdominal disorders, plethora, asthma, thirst, hunger, loss ofbody weight, curing of pain, gastric troubles, enlarged liver and spleen.

Azadirachta indica Neem Rich in vitamins, minerals. Useful as antiseptic, antimicrobials, treatment ofurinary disorders, diarrhea, fever, bronchitis, skin diseases, burns, hypertensions,

cancer, digestive and blood disorders and cosmetic products.

* Corresponding Author: Email: [email protected]


2/6

J. basic appl. sci.48

The poorest urban farmers are prone to toxic metal load as

they are most likely to use high risk sites and undeveloped

land (Sawio, 1999). Studies have shown that urban soils

can receive large inputs of trace metals from different

anthropogenic sources but especially from automobile

emissions, waste dumping sites and contamination of

ground water from excessive use of chemical pesticides

and fertilizers in agriculture (Nabulo et al., 2006).Human health may be directly affected by ingestion fruits

and vegetables, if enhanced amount of macro-

micronutrients are present in such edible (Disipio et al.,

1999). Increasing knowledge about the potentially

deleterious effects of heavy metals on environmental and

human health has prompted closer examination of the

presence and behavior of such elements in agriculture

ecosystems. Heavy metals occur in many fertilizers and in

some pesticides, purposefully included as micro

nutritional or bicidal components, present as naturally

occurring contaminants, or introduced when waste

materials are used to formulate fertilizer products. Heavy

metals may be of particular concern in tree fruit

production because of the importance of foliar spray,

which deposits fertilizer and pesticide residue directly on

to fruits. Current issues concerning heavy metal and

nutrient management include natural cadmium

enrichment in phosphorous fertilizer, anthropogenic

heavy metal contamination of zinc fertilizer and copper

contamination of soil resulting from historical pesticide

application (ISHS, 2001).

It is well known that an excess or deficiency of trace

metals present in the human body can cause harmful

effects. For example an excess of Cu in the body cause

Wilsons disease while a deficiency of Zn is responsible

for retarded body growth (Olivaries et al., 1996).

This study is aimed to present a data of trace levels of

metals in different types of fruits available for the

consumption to the inhabitants of Karachi from various

sources and this data will help to provide the status of

heavy metals pollution in Pakistan and also to assure food

safety and to protect the end user from food that might

affect their health.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The selection of fruits based on criteria regarding their

consumption and availability. The composite samples offruits were collected from the several local market of

Karachi city- Pakistan.

All fruit samples were washed thoroughly and separately.

Running tap water was employed to remove dust and

adhered particles. The samples were later rinsed thrice

with deionized water and subsequently dried in oven at

60-80C. After drying and cooling, about 2 g of each

dried sample was weighed accurately in cleaned and dried

50ml beaker and digested in 10 ml of 1:3 mixture of

concentrated 65% HClO4 : HNO3 (Merck) using a

hotplate, till clear solution was obtained. Digested

samples were cooled at room temperature. These were

then acidified with 10 ml of 1:1 mixture of HCl:H2O and

filtered through 0.45 micron filter paper and the volume

was made up to 50ml with distilled water (AOAC 2000).

The digested samples were transferred to cleaned driedplastic bottles for chemical analysis by using Atomic

Absorption Spectrometry (Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 700).

Table 2. Standard operating conditions for the analysis of

heavy metals using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.

MetalsWavelength

(nm)

Lamp

Current

(mA)

Flame

Slit

Width

(mm)

Fe 248.3 30

Air-Acetylene

0.2

Pb 283.3 12 0.7

Mn 279.5 30 0.2

Cu 324.8 30 0.7Co 240.7 30 0.2

Ni 232.0 30 0.2

Zn 213.9 20 0.7

Cd 228.8 6 0.7

Cr 357.9 30 0.7

Standard solutions of heavy metals were provided by

Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). The standards were

prepared from the individual 1000 mg/l standards

(Merck), in 0.1 N HNO3. Working standards were

prepared from the previous stock solutions. Quality

assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) procedures were

strictly followed throughout the present study. The levelof accuracy and QC for the determination of heavy metal

concentrations was comprised of measurements of natural

matrix Certified Reference Material (CRM) and the

measurements of duplicates for each batch of samples.

NIST standard 1573 (Tomato leaves) was used for the

evaluation of procedures. Percentage recoveries ranged

between 92.3% and 113% with % RSDs for the mean

recoveries below 8.7% for CRM 1573, whereas the

percent relative standard deviation (%RSD) for duplicate

samples analyzed was less than 9%. Two- way ANOVA

were carried out for statistical analysis with the program

SPSS 10.0 for windows.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Fruits are important source of nutrients and offer

advantages over dietary supplements, because of low cost

and wide availability. In daily diet fruits have been

strongly associated with reduced risk for some forms of

cancer, heart disease, stroke and other chronic ailments

(Goldberg, 2003). Climatic conditions, particularly

temperature and light intensity, have an especially strong


3/6

Zahir et al. 49

effect on the nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables

oxidation (Mozafar, 1994). Although antioxidant capacity

varies greatly among fruits and vegetables it is better to

consume a variety of commodities rather than limiting

consumption to a few with the highest antioxidant

capacity (Kalt, 2002).

Soil type, the rootstock used for fruit trees, mulching,irrigation, fertilization and other cultural practices

influence the water and nutrient supply to the plants,

which can affect the composition and quality attributes

(appearance, texture, taste and aroma) of the harvested

plant parts (Goldman et al., 1999).

Pakistan has all the natural flavors, usually considered

ideal for the production of good quality of fruits like

fertile soil, temperature variation and other climatic

condition. Pakistani fruits are being demanded in almost

all over the world. Presently Pakistan is exporting fruits to

USA, Europe, Middle East, India, Srilanka and many

other countries.

The present work is focused on establishing trace

elemental levels in different types of fruit samples in

order to find ecological and environmental relationship

between trace elements. Our result shows Table 3 that the

data are quite divergent and no regular pattern of metal

content is observed. Fe concentration is higher as

compared to the other metals in fruit samples. It was

found highest in Apple that is 24.67ug/g. The maximum

iron ion level permitted for food is 15mg kg1

according

to (Turkish Food Codex Anonymous Regulation 2002).

Iron is an important component of hemoglobin and intake

of iron in human body from fruits is very good to health.Among various samples, Banana shows lesser

concentration 1.650 ug/g while in the other samples the

concentration of iron is in between 7.92-16.517 ug/g. In

other studies the concentration of iron was reported as

35.6 mg/kg for raw foodstuff (Waheed et al., 2003).

Cadmium is readily available for uptake by plants as there

is a clear association between cadmium concentration in

soil and the plants grown on the soil (Elinder et al.,

1996).The guideline value for cadmium in soil from plant

uptake is 1 mg/ kg dry soil weight (DEFRA, 2002). In the

present study the concentration of cadmium in fruits has

been found within the range of 0.1726-0.2995 ug/g. It is

the least in apple among all. Cadmium concentrations

were within the advisory interval (0.5-5 mg/kg) (Danish,

2000). Cobalt is lowest in Jaman i.e 0.104 ug/g and

highest in Banana 1.168 ug/g.

The concentration of lead was found maximum in Chikoo

Table 3. Concentration (g/g dry wt) Standard deviation of Heavy metals in Fruits

Fruit Samples Fe Pb Mn Cu Ni Cd Cr Zn Co

Apple 24.676

1.261

1.818

0.205

0.019

0.008

0.543

0.035

0.971

0.183

0.173

0.069

3.930

0.270

21.496

1.733

0.407

0.053

Apricot 14.086

0.166

1.597

0.995

0.037

0.005

1.420

0.090

1.119

0.220

0.246

0.038

3.975

0.462

1.543

0.542

1.049

0.203

Banana 16.508

2.177

3.152

0.665

0.037

0.002

1.606

0.250

1.316

0.635

0.262

0.032

4.343

0.326

0.785

0.124

1.168

0.559

Chikoo 14.544

1.655

7.571

2.417

0.064

0.005

3.145

0.100

1.099

0.368

0.280

0.061

4.304

0.125

28.227

3.007

0.272

0.026

Date 16.517

2.950

2.291

0.699

0.045

0.003

0.644

0.049

1.818

0.103

0.194

0.036

4.180

0.382

49.586

9.063

0.141

0.091

Jaman 9.120

3.251

2.928

0.886

0.021

0.001

2.772

0.455

0.597

0.280

0.278

0.017

3.931

0.280

0.138

0.006

0.104

0.091

Lemon 16.366

6.843

1.961

0.164

0.612

0.065

2.947

0.042

0.975

0.102

0.292

0.070

3.973

0.893

0.032

0.005

0.364

0.048

Mango 9.563

4.394

1.914

0.932

0.050

0.028

3.234

0.279

5.033

1.723

0.275

0.025

4.095

0.194

0.668

0.066

0.871

0.201

Neem 9.962

1.178

1.554

0.027

0.013

0.002

1.829

0.308

0.645

0.195

0.299

0.068

3.268

0.062

10.845

1.543

0.388

0.051

Tomato 7.924

0.680

0.531

0.092

0.049

0.008

3.122

0.080

0.144

0.061

0.245

0.034

2.864

0.032

12.345

0.784

0.340

0.014

Minimum 7.924 0.531 0.013 0.543 0.144 0.173 2.864 0.032 0.104

Maximum 24.676 7.571 0.612 3.234 5.033 0.299 4.343 49.586 1.168


4/6


7.571 ug/g and minimum in tomato 0.531 ug/g. WHO has

established a provisional tolerable weekly intake for lead

of 0.025 mg kg1

of body weight (WHO, 1993). As lead is

not being translocated readily in plants, it could be

suggested that Pb found in different samples originated

from atmospheric deposition. This may also be due to the

vehicular lead emission could be likely source of lead

pollution in areas close to agricultural fiels. On contrary,in all fruit samples, the uptake and accumulation of Mn is

relatively lower 0.019-0.612 ug/g. The US National

Academy of Sciences recommended 2.55 mg per day

manganese (National Academy of Science, 1980) and, the

WHO recommended 29 mg per day for an adult (WHO,

1994).

Zinc is an essential metal for proper body functions. The

concentration of zinc is highest in date 49.586 ug/g and

minimum is in lemon. The maximum tolerable daily

intake of Zn is 0.31 mg kg1

(FAO/WHO, 1982). Our

values for Zn (II) ion in understudy apricot samples were

above the WHOs values. Chromium is important for

glucose tolerance in human body. The maximum

concentration of Cr is 4.343 and minimum was 2.864

ug/g. The Food and Nutrition Board of the NAS/NRC

states that a safe, adequate intake of chromium for an

adult is 50200 ug/day (Gupta, 2006). Copper plays a

critical role in a variety of biochemical processes. The

lowest concentration 0.543 was found in apple and the

highest concentration is in mango 3.234 ug/g.

Trees are long-lived organisms, which can take up trace

elements from the soil, water or air, and retain them for a

long time. Trace metals may enter the human body

through consumption of food plants grown in

contaminated soil. Cu is in the range of 0.543- 3.234 ug/gand the highest concentration of Ni is in mango 5.033

ug/g and lower in tomato 0.144 ug/g that is within the

reported normal range of 0.10-5.00 mg/kg (Kabata-

Pendias et al., 1992). Exposure of consumers and related

health risks are usually expressed as provisional tolerable

daily intake (PTDI), a reference value established by Joint

FAO/WHO (1999). The FAO/WHO who has set a limit

for heavy metal intake based on body weight for an

average adult (60 kg body weight). PTDI for Pb, Cd, Cu,and Zn are 214 g, 60 g, 3 mg and 60 mg, respectively

(Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives,

1999).

In other studies, the results showed that the concentration

of metals in various food stuff ranged between 0.04-8.88

Cu, 3.07-126.0 Fe, 0.19-22.8 Zn, 0.15-1.16Cd and Pb has

been in the range of 0.11-2.04 mg/kg (Waheed et al.,

2003). Our results also follow the same pattern.

In other studies different spices, dry fruits and plant nuts

commonly consumed in Pakistan were assayed for the

heavy metals cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, iron and

manganese by the potentiometric stripping analysis and

atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results

revealed wide variation in heavy metal content among

different biological materials. Spices generally exhibited

higher value for trace metals specially lead (6.69.2

g/g), cadmium (0.651.34 g/g), iron (142.3285.0

g/g) and zinc (64.265.8 g/g). Dry fruits contained

relatively lesser amounts of heavy metals than plant nuts.

Almonds contained higher levels of lead (1.02 g/g) and

cadmium (0.24 g/g) than other nuts and dry fruits (Sattar

et al. 1989). The above study showed much higher

amount of metals than in our study. Comparison details of

metal content in fruits of our study and other studies are

shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Levels of metals in fruits in previously published results from other parts of the world.

Fruitsample

Fe Pb Mn Cu Ni Cd Cr Zn Co Ref

Apple 121.15 23.48 8.75 3.00 47.43 8.39 8.75 35.88 25.40 India a

Yeshwantpur

market 2008Banana 190.99 7.46 417.39 14.19 8.90 13.36 88.32 45.64 185.90

Chikoo 134.87 29.86 11.59 12.32 4.32 9.44 50.10 23.90 n.d

Lemon 43.99 58.70 11.05 6.76 37.94 9.09 227.50 22.19 8.70

Mango 75.16 67.20 11.59 6.34 n.d 16.9 37.36 18.29 6.23

JamanDate 0.44-

7.94---- 0.10-

0.510.11-0.65

--- 0.05-0.74

0.02-1.45

0.22-2.02

0.06-0.11

Egypt b 2000

Tomato --- 0.26 --- 1.83 --- 0.01 ---- 7.69 --- Egypt c 2006

Apricot 76.8-80.1

2.36-2.50

7.10-7.53

2.25-2.42

3.41-3.66

0.19-0.22

.0162-

.016911.7-12.0

--- Turkey d 2009

a Mahdavian ,SE and Somashekar, RK 2008, b Mohamed, AE 2000, c Radwan, MA and Salama, AK 2006d Saracoglu, S et al. 2009


5/6

Zahir et al. 51

This variation of metal concentrations in the different

fruits samples may be related to variation in texture,

structure, chemical and mineral composition of soil.

Statistical analysis (P > 0.05, ANOVA) does not signify

meaningful differences between the metal concentrations

pertaining to different fruits.

Morphology of leaves and fruits influence the dustdeposition and hence different patterns were observed for

elemental concentrations in plant tissues and their fruits.

The bioaccumulation of trace elements in the leaves and

fruits of the trees is the combined result of the uptake

processes via the roots from the soil, which is then

transported to the leaves and translocated to the fruits,

land through shoots.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the results represent that the fruits of

Pakistan contained the metal content within the safe limits

(WHO, 1997). As the human health is directly affected byingestion of fruits and vegetables. The distribution of

toxic elements in nature, their concentration and

migration via from atmosphere, aqueous and soil affect

the human activities. Biomonitoring of trace elements in

the fleshy fruits should be continued because these are the

main source of food for human.

REFERENCES

Abou-Arab, AAK., Soliman, KM., El Tantawy, ME.,

Ismail, BR. and Naguid, K.1999. Food Chem. 67: 357-

363.

Anonymous Regulation of setting maximum levels for

certain contaminants in foodstuffs, 2002. Official Gazette,

Iss: 24908.

Bratter, P. and Schrauel, P (eds). 1980. Trace elements

analytical chemistry in medicine and biology. Walter de

Gruyter, Berlin.

Danish Environmental Protection Agency. 2000.

Guidance regarding Advice of inhabitants of slightly

contaminated soil (in Danish) Danish EPA, Office of soil

contamination: Copenhagen p.75.

DEFRA and Environmental Agency. 2002. Contaminated

land exposure assessment model (CLEA): technical basisand algorithms. Reports CLR 10. Available from the

R&D Dissemination centre, WRC plc. Swindon, Witts.

Disipio, F. and Trulli, G. 1999. Trace element monitoring:

Cadmium, chrome, iron, lead, copper, tin and zinc in

vegetable foods. Industrie Ali mentari. 38: 254.

Elinder, CG. and Jarup, L. 1996.Cadmium exposure and

health risks. Recent findings. Ambio. 25 (5): 370-373.

Goldberg G. (ed) 2003. Plants: Diet and Health. The

report of a British Nutrition Foundation Task Force.

Blackwell Science, Oxford U.K. p 347.

Goldman, IL., Kader, AA. and Heintz, C. 1999. Influence

of production, handling and storage on phytonutrient

content of foods. Nutr. Rev. 57: S46-S52.

Gupta, SK. 2006. Bioderm Research,http://www.freepatentsonline.com/ 20060183708.html.

ISHS: 2001.Acta Horticulture 564: IV International

symposium on mineral nutrition of deciduous fruit crops.

Heavy metal contamination in deciduous tree fruit

Orchards: Implication for mineral nutrient management.

Joint FAO/WHO, 1999. Expert Committee on Food

Additives, Summary and Conclusions, 53rd Meeting,

Rome.

Kabata-Pendias, A. and Pendias, H. 1992. Trace elements

in soils and plants. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC press. p.

365.

Kalt, W. 2002. Health functional phytochemicals of fruits.

Hort.Rev. 27:269-315.

Mahdavian, SE. and Somashekar, RK. 2008. Heavy

metals and safety of fresh fruits in Bangalore city, India-

A case study. Kathmandu University Journal of Science,

Engineering and Technology. Vol. 1 (5): 17-27.

Mohamed, AE. 2000. Trace element levels in some kinds

of dates. Food Chemistry. 70: 9-12.

Mozafar, A. 1994. Plant vitamins: Agronomic,

physiological and nutritional aspects. CRC press Boca

Raton FL.

Nabulo, G., Oryem-Origa, H. and Diamond, M. 2006.

Assessment of lead, cadmium, and zinc contamination of

roadside soils, surface films and vegetables in Kampala

City, Uganda. Environmental Research. 101: 42-52.

National Academy of Sciences, 1980. Recommended

Dietary Allowances, National Academic Press,

Washington. 9th

Edition.

Official method of Analysis. (AOAC) 2000. J.

Association of official analytical chemist (AOAC)

Washington, D.C. 17th

Edition.

Olivares, M. and Uauy, R. 1996. Limits of metabolic

tolerance to copper and biological basis for presentrecommendation and regulation. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 63:

846S.

Radwan, MA. and Salama, AK. 2006. Market basket

survey for some heavy metals in Egyptian fruits and

vegetables. Food and Chemical Toxicology. 44: 1273-

1278.

Saracoglu, S. Tuzen, M. and Soylak, M. 2009. Evaluation

of trace element contents of dried apricot samples from


6/6


Turkey. Journal of Hazardous Materials. doi:

10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.01.011.

Sathawara, NG., Parikh, DJ. and Agarwal, YK. 2004.

Essential heavy metals in environmental samples from

western India. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 73, 756

761.

Sattar, A. Wahid, M. and Durrani SK. 1989.Concentration of selected heavy metals in spices, dry

fruits and plant nuts. Journal of Plant Food and Human

Nutrition. 39 (3): 279-286.

Sawio, C. 1999. Managing Urban Agriculture in Dares

Salaam. Cities feeding people report 20. International

development research centre, Ottawa.

Waheed, A. Jaffar, M. and Masud, K.2003.Comparative

study of selected essential and non-essential metals in

various canned and raw foodstuffs consumed in Pakistan.

Nutrition and food Science. 33: 6.

WHO. 1997. Evaluation of certain food additives and

contaminants: 46th Report of the joint FAO/ WHO expertcommittee on food additives, WHO. Technical report

series No. 868, pp i-viii.

World Health Organization, 1993. Guidelines for

Drinking Water Quality, WHO, Geneva.

World Health Organization, 1982. Evaluation of Certain

Food Additives and Contaminants, Twenty sixth Report

of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food

Additives, World Health Organization, Geneva, WHO

Technical Report Series No. 683,

World Health Organization, 1994. Quality Directive of

Potable Water, WHO, Geneva, 2nd Edition, p. 197.

best fruit 2013( procedure )890

Documents