V i t a m i n s & M i n e r a l s ISSN: 2376-1318 Vitamins & Minerals Singhal et al., Vitam Miner 2016, 5:1 Research Article Open Access Volume 5 • Issue 1 • 1000135 Vitam Miner ISSN: 2376-1318 VMS, an open access journal Assessment of Trace Element Intake through Some Vegetables to the Population of Mumbai Pallavi Singhal*, Jha SK, Thakur VK, Ravi PM, Patra AC, Dubey JS and Tripathi RM Health Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400 085, Maharashtra, India Abstract Major and Trace element concentrations were determined in Potato, Cabbage and Bottle gourd purchased from Mumbai using fame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Concentration of some major elements Ca, Na, K and Mg were found to be higher in Cabbage as compared to Potato and Bottle Gourd while the concentration of Fe, Zn and Cu was observed to be higher in Bottle Gourd. Toxic elements Cd and Ni concentrations in all the vegetables were <0.5 ppb. Calculated daily dietary intake values for the elements were found to be lower than the reference dietary intake values, indicating that these vegetables are safe for human consumption. *Corresponding author: Pallavi Singhal, Health Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400 085, India, Tel: 912225592349; Fax: 912225505313; E-mail: psinghal@barc.gov.in Received February 10, 2016; Accepted February 24, 2016; Published March 02, 2016 Citation: Singhal P, Jha SK, Thakur VK, Ravi PM, Patra AC, et al. (2016) Assessment of Trace Element Intake through Some Vegetables to the Population of Mumbai. Vitam Miner 5: 135. Copyright: © 2016 Singhal P, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Vegetables; Toxic elements; Atomic absorption spectroscopy; Daily dietary intake Introduction Vegetables are an essential dietary component for the human body. Tey contribute protein, vitamins, iron, calcium and other nutrients to human body, which are usually short in supply [1]. Tey also act as bufering agents for acidic substances produced during the digestion process. Eating vegetables lowers the risk of many chronic diseases and can also help with weight management [2]. It has been reported that eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables in a day reduces risk of death at any point in time by 42% compared to eating less than one portion and also fresh vegetables has more protective efect than fruits, with each daily portion reducing overall risk of death by 16% [3]. Vegetables are a rich source of various essential elements including Ca, K, Na, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu which are required for the proper functioning of the human body. Te availability of diferent elements to the human body depends on the dietary preferences/ habits of an individual. Tere are around thirty chemical elements that are recognized as essential elements however the essential elements can also become toxic at higher concentration [4]. For example Cr and Mn are essential but may become toxic at higher levels. Pb and Cd are toxic at all the concentrations and can be cumulative [5,6]. Hg is one supratoxic element with high neurotoxicity. Many anthropogenic activities such as use of fertilizers, coal combustion, refuse incineration; mining and smelting waste [7-9] release large amounts of heavy metals into the environment that can be transported along hydrologic gradients for hundreds of kilometres in relatively short times. Tese heavy metals can enter in the food and deliver their toxic efects to humans through diferent intake pathways [10,11]. Many studies have reported that food crops accumulate trace metals in their tissues when grown on contaminated soil [12-14]. It is recognized that land used for food production has been contaminated with Cd, Pb and Zn from metal smelting activity, irrigation with wastewater, disposal of solid wastes including sewage sludge, vehicular exhaust and adjacent industrial activity [14-16]. Compared to crops from rural sites, horticultural crops in urban or peri-urban areas are generally exposed to higher level of pollutants including trace metals and organic contaminants [17-19]. Trace element concentration at higher or elevated levels can bring undesirable chemical changes. Many other conventional pollutants can also bring biological changes due to its presence in the environment of the public. However living systems has evaluated as a very efcient repair mechanism that usually limits the damage caused to body cells. Te carcinogenic efects linked with the toxic element are not diferent and distinguished from the radiation exposure. Various studies have revealed that consuming crops from polluted sites can lead to serious public health problems in both developing and developed countries [13,20]. For these reasons, it is essential to determine the trace metal content of diferent vegetables and assure that these vegetables are safe for consumption. In the present work we have selected three vegetables, Potato (Solanum tuberosum), Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria steraia) for our study. Te selection was based on dietary choices of the local population as well as their production. Potato popularly known as king of vegetables is the fourth most important crop in India and third most important crop in the world only afer wheat and rice and consumed by more than 1 billion people worldwide [21]. India is the second largest producer of Potato in world [22] with the total production of 42.34 million ton [23]. Te total consumption of potato in India is 32.55 million tonnes with per capita consumption of 36.4 kg/year [24]. India is also the second largest producer of Cabbage with the total production of 7.95 million tones which is equivalent to the 12% production of the total cabbage [25]. While the per capita consumption is 7.34 kg/year [24]. Similarly the total production of bottle gourd is 1.43 million tonnes [26] with per capita consumption of 7.03 kg/year [24]. Being an important dietary component of Indian population it is important to study the elemental concentration in these vegetables. Experimental Sample collection and processing All three vegetables namely Potato (Solanum tuberosum), Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) 1 kg each, multiple samples of each variety were purchased from APMC Market, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, a local market which is one of the largest suppliers of food and vegetable to the city of Mumbai. Collected samples were immediately sealed in polythene bags, labeled and stored. Non-edible portion of vegetables were removed and each sample was washed with