ESTIMATED DIETARY INTAKE OF ESSENTIAL AND NON-ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS THROUGH FOUR HIGHLY CONSUMED VEGETABLES

CORA JOFRE, FLORENCIA; ADRIANA H. SASSONE; VALENTINA GIACOMINO; MARÍA A. ASTOLFO; MARIANELA SAVIO; VALENTINA OLMOS

Conferencia; Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) Science Innovation Showcase; 2022

Vegetables are important for human health because of their vitamins, minerals, phytochemical compounds, and dietary fiber content. However, in a food safety point of view, vegetables can also be source of exposure to toxic substances such as heavy metals, or pesticides.A multielemental analysis was carried out on four vegetables, carrot (Daucus carota), onion (Allium cepa), potato (Solanum tuberosum), and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) from nine central markets distributed across the horticultural areas of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The selected four vegetables have a high presence in the diet of the Argentine population.Aluminum, barium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, chromium, iron, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, strontium, and zinc were analyzed by microwave induced plasma – atomic emission spectrometry (MIP OES) (triplicate analysis). Seven of the thirteen elements analyzed (aluminum, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, and strontium) are considered non-essential elements for human beings. Results for cadmium, cobalt, chromium, lead, molybdenum, and nickel were non-detectable in all four vegetables. Mean concentrations in carrots, onions, potatoes and Swiss chards, for aluminum were 2.84, 1.82, 4.08 and 25,18 mg.kg-1, respectively; for barium were 0.88, 0.07, 0.06 and 1.58 mg.kg-1, respectively; for copper were 0.39, 0.37, 0.84, 0.61 mg.kg-1, respectively; for iron were 3.52, 2.61, 5.55, 18.07 mg.kg-1, respectively; for manganese were 1.43, 0.78, 1.56, 9.81 mg.kg-1, respectively; for strontium were 1.81, 1.38, 0.04, 1.72 mg.kg-1, respectively; and for zinc were 0.74, 0.48, 2.22, 1.04 mg.kg-1, respectively. Contribution of these four vegetables to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) was calculated for the essential elements, copper: 0.1 mg.day-1 (RDA: 0.9 mg.day-1), iron: 1.15 mg.day-1 (RDA: 8 to 18 mg.day-1), manganese: 0.49 mg.day-1 (RDA: 1.8-2.3 mg.day-1), and zinc: 0.21 mg.day-1 (RDA: 8-18 mg.day-1). Estimated dietary intakes (EDIs) were calculated for non-essential elements as indicators of exposure to potential toxic metals through food. Food intakes were obtained from the Dietary Guidelines for the Argentine population (2016). EDI for aluminum was 0.018 mg.kg-1.day-1, and the estimated weekly intake was 0.124 mg.kg-1 (PTWI: 2 mg.kg-1). EDI for barium was 0.001 mg.kg-1.day-1 (RfD: 0.07 mg.kg-1.day-1). EDI for strontium was 0.002 mg.kg-1.day-1 (IDT 0.13 mg.kg-1.day-1).The results showed no significant health risk to the consumer associated with the consumption of these vegetable food crops and the exposure to toxic elements. In a next step, other elements such as arsenic and selenium will be included in the analysis.