You have no items in your shopping cart.
ABSTRACT
The detection of heavy metals in vegetables has raised serious concerns in public health. This study was thus carried out to investigate the levels of Arsenic, Lead, Chromium and Oxidative stress status of Bitter leaf samples collected from Ikpoba hill market and Oba market Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria. The concentration of heavy metal in the samples was determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Oxidative stress markers- Superoxide Dismutase, Catalase, Glutathione Peroxidase and Malondialdehyde were also analyzed. Results indicated the presence of Lead and Chromium in Ikpoba hill and Oba market with mean concentrations 0.23±0.03, 0.23±0.02 for Lead and 0.58±0.04, 0.44±0.05 for Chromium respectively. These values exceed WHO standard for permissible levels in food. Arsenic was not detected in any of the samples which is reassuring from a food safety perspective. The concentration of Chromium was higher than Lead in both markets. There was no significant difference in the concentration of Lead and Chromium between the markets (p>0.05). However, Ikpoba hill market had higher concentration of Chromium. Significant differences in Superoxide Dismutase and Glutathione Peroxidase activities were observed between the samples from Ikpoba hill and Oba market (p<0.05) while there was no significant difference between Catalase and Malondialdehyde (p>0.05). The target Hazard Quotient and Health risk Index signaled that there is no health risk associated with consumption of these vegetables however, it is recommended that the concentration of heavy metals in crops of the study area be regularly monitored to avoid significant health risk in future.
