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Trace Elements in Edible Flowers from Italy: Further Insights into Health Benefits and Risks to Consumers.

ABSTRACT: The use of edible flowers in cooking dates back to ancient times, but recently it is gaining success among the consumers, increasingly attentive to healthy and sustainable foods of high quality, without neglecting taste, flavour, and visual appeal. The present study aims to deepen the knowledge regarding the mineral composition of edible flowers, an aspect not widely investigated in scientific literature. The concentrations of Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, and Zn have been determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP OES) in flowers belonging to a wide variety of species. The study highlights that some floral species are characterized by significantly higher concentrations of certain trace elements, e.g., the flowers of Acmella oleracea for Mn, those of basil (Ocimum basilicum) and of pumpkins (Cucurbita moschata and C. pepo) for Cu and Sr, and those of orange daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) for Ni. Potentially toxic elements are present at low concentrations, often below the limit of the detection for Cd, Co, Ni, V. In all samples, Cd and Pb are well below the maximum permitted levels in foodstuffs. It can be concluded that the edible flowers analyzed can be considered a good source of essential elements and do not present risks for the consumer health as for the mineral composition.

SUBMITTER: Drava G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7355664 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Trace Elements in Edible Flowers from Italy: Further Insights into Health Benefits and Risks to Consumers.

Drava Giuliana G Iobbi Valeria V Govaerts Rafaël R Minganti Vincenzo V Copetta Andrea A Ruffoni Barbara B Bisio Angela A

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) 20200623 12

The use of edible flowers in cooking dates back to ancient times, but recently it is gaining success among the consumers, increasingly attentive to healthy and sustainable foods of high quality, without neglecting taste, flavour, and visual appeal. The present study aims to deepen the knowledge regarding the mineral composition of edible flowers, an aspect not widely investigated in scientific literature. The concentrations of Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, and Zn have been determined by Ind ...[more]

PMID: 32586028

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Project description:Food safety and security have now been regarded as a significant emerging area within the food supply chain leading to scientific and public health concerns in the global world. The poultry sector is a substantial threat to heavy metal intoxication for Bangladeshi people due to contaminated drinking water and feed sources, as well as the poultry sector’s surrounding environment and soil. This study was carried out to ascertain the residual concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Cd) and trace elements (Cr, Fe, Cu, and Zn) in various edible chicken body parts (breast, liver, gizzard, heart, kidney, and brain) to observe the quality of the consumed chickens and to assess public health risk. Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) was used to check the content of toxic heavy metals and trace elements in 108 samples of 18 broiler chickens collected from six different locations of Dhaka North City Corporation markets in Bangladesh. The measured concentrations (mg/kg fresh weight) ranged from 0.33±0.2 to 4.6±0.4, 0.004±0.0 to 0.125±0.2, 0.006±0.0 to 0.94±0.4, 4.05±4.2 to 92.31±48.8, 0.67±0.006 to 4.15±2.7, and 4.45±0.62 to 23.75±4.3, for Pb, Cd, Cr, Fe, Cu, and Zn respectively. Except for Pb and Cu most of the investigated heavy metals and trace element levels in chickens were lower than the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) set by FAO/WHO and other regulatory agencies., The estimated level of Pb was nearly six times higher in the chicken brain. The estimated daily intake (EDI) values for all the studied metals were below the preliminary tolerated daily intake (PTDI). The target hazard quotient (THQ) values of the broiler chicken meat samples varied for adults and children, and the range was found to be 0.037–0.073 for Pb, 0.007–0.01 for Cd, 0.0–0.08 for Cr, 0.002–0.004 for Fe, for 0.00–0.002 Cu, and 0.004–0.008 for Zn, not exceeding the maximum level of 1 according to USEPA. The calculated THQ and total target hazard quotient (TTHQ) values were measured at less than one, suggesting that the consumption of chicken meat has no carcinogenic danger to its consumers. The Target carcinogenic risks (TCRs) of Pb, Cd, Cr, and Cu were within acceptable limits. The TCR values for children were, to some extent, higher than that of adults, which proposes that regular monitoring of both harmful and essential elements in chicken samples is necessary to determine whether or not any possible health risk to consumers exists. In terms of health, this study demonstrated that consumers are chronically exposed to elemental contamination with carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects.

Dataset Information

Trace Elements in Edible Flowers from Italy: Further Insights into Health Benefits and Risks to Consumers.

Publications

Trace Elements in Edible Flowers from Italy: Further Insights into Health Benefits and Risks to Consumers.

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