Analysis of heavy metals in citrus juice from the Abura-Asebu

More documents

Recommendations

Info

J. K Tufuor et al J. Chem. Pharm. Res., 2011, 3(2):397-402______________________________________________________________________________lowest in the orange, the concentrations of all the other metals As, Fe and Zn and Cu werehighest in the lime juice and least in the orange juice.Table 3: Concentration of metal in orange juiceConcentration of metal orange juice ( ppm)Orange Arsenic Lead Chromium Nickel Iron Copper ZincG 1 Nd nd nd nd 0.6171 nd 0.1354G 2 Nd nd nd nd 0.4275 nd 0.1128G 3 Nd 0.050 nd nd 0.4841 nd 0.0914G 4 Nd nd nd nd 0.8171 nd 0.1184Mean Nd 0.013 nd nd 0.5865 nd 0.1145SD ± 0.021 ± 0.173 ± 0.018Table 4: Concentration of metals in lime juiceLimeConcentration of metal in lime juice ( ppm)juice Arsenic Lead Chromium Nickel Iron Copper ZincL 1 0.0131 0.1091 nd nd 1.5970 nd 0.4400L 2 0.0112 0.0328 nd nd 1.6650 0.100 0.2531L 3 0.0168 nd nd nd 1.5360 0.107 0.2989L 4 0.0113 0.0297 nd nd 1.4810 nd 0.3196Mean 0.0131 0.0429 nd nd 1.5700 0.0518 0.3279SD ± 0.003 ± 0.038 ± 0.073 ±0.0598 ± 0.0797Table 5: Concentration of metal in lemon juiceLemonConcentration of metal in lemon juice ( ppm)juice Arsenic Lead Chromium Nickel Iron Copper ZincM 1 Nd 0 00 0.3029 nd nd nd 0.3176M 2 Nd 0.3486 nd nd 1.5069 nd 0.2981M 3 Nd 0.2530 nd nd 1.5504 nd 0.2961M 4 Nd 0.3001 nd nd 1.4707 nd 0.1999Mean Nd 0.3015 nd nd 1.4630 nd 0.2779SD ± 0.039 ± 0.0982 ± 0.059Generally the metals detected were found to be highest generally in the lime juice (fig.1)probably due to its high acidity and sequenstration ability. These fruits contain fruit acids such asCitric, tartaric, and malic acids that have the power of chelating heavy metals. The chelatingpower partly depends on the acidity of the fruit, and since the acidity of the three citrus fruits hasbeen found to be in the order lime> lemon > orange [8-9], it is therefore not surprising that thelime had the highest concentration of trace metals. The mean concentrations of the trace metalswere found to be in the order; As< Cu< Pb
J. K Tufuor et al J. Chem. Pharm. Res., 2011, 3(2):397-402______________________________________________________________________________Figure 1: Concentration of some heavy metals in orange, lemon and lime fruits from Abura- Asebu-Kwamankese District of GhanaThe concentrations of the metals found in all the three fruit were far lower than those Dietaryreference values for food energy and nutrients levels recommended in the United Kingdom bythe Department of Health committee on medical aspect of food policy and the US EPA [10-17]Though there were correlations among the metals in all the fruits, most of these were notsignificant at the 0.05 level. The significant correlations observed were very high, and these werebetween Cu and each of the metals Fe, As and Zn in the lime juice. In each case the value of rwas 1.0 at the 0.01 confidence level.CONCLUSIONThe results obtained indicate that traces elements, both essential and non essential heavy metalswere present in citrus fruits from the Abura- Asebu- Kwamankese District of Ghana. Fe, Zn, Pb,Cu and As were detected in the citrus fruits analysed, with mean concentrations 1.2065,2.401×10 -1 , 2.92×10 -2 ppm, 4.313×10 -3 and 1.090×10 -3 ppm respectively. Cr and Ni were notdetected in any of the samples. The levels of the essential metals Cu, Zn and Fe were far belowthe recommended daily intake. It is therefore safe to consume oranges, lemons or limes from theAbura- Asebu- Kwamankese District of Ghana since the levels of all the metals found in themwere far lower than dietary reference values recommended by the United Kingdom Departmentof Health and the US EPA.AcknowledgementsWe wish to thank the Fruits and Flavour Industry and all the farmers for their support during thecollection of samples. We are also grateful to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) for their technicalsupport.401
Page 1 and 2: Available on line www.jocpr.comJour
Page 3: J. K Tufuor et al J. Chem. Pharm. R

Analysis of heavy metals in citrus juice from the Abura-Asebu

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?