Assessment of toxic and essential heavy metals in imported dried fruits sold in the local markets of Jordan

Abstract

In the present study, the concentrations of nine heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Mg, Cr, Ni, Cd, and Pb) in six different imported dried fruit samples of different brands (Mangoes, black raisins, figs, apricots, plums, and cranberries) were determined by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) after wet digestion. Samples were collected from different stores in Amman, Jordan. The average concentration of the selected metals in the analyzed samples were found to be in the range of 1.70-8.70 (Fe), 0.15-0.72 (Zn), 0.09-0.59 (Mn), 0.07-0.46 (Cu), 2.5-53.4 (Mg), 0.06-0.15 (Cr), 0.17-0.29 (Ni), 0.01-0.05 (Cd), and 0.11-0.57 (Pb) µg/g. The highest concentrations of Fe, Zn, Mn, Mg, and Ni were found in dried figs, highest concentrations of Cr, Cd, and Pb were found in dried apricots, and highest concentrations of Cu was found in dried black raisins. The results obtained in this study showed that Mg and Fe have the highest concentrations in all analyzed samples, whereas, the lowest concentrations obtained were for Cd and Cr. The concentrations of the highly toxic metals (Pb and Cd) in the all analyzed samples were found to be below or in good agreement with the permissible limits set by different health organizations. The figures of merit obtained for the FAAS calibration curves are brilliant with good linearity (r2 > 0.99). The FAAS method was validated by determining limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), and percent recovery (%R) for all investigated metals. The results obtained in this work were compared with the literature reported values.