Determination of copper, cadmium and zinc in abelmoschus esculentus l. moench using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry

Abstract

Heavy metals such as cadmium, copper and zinc are important environmental pollutants, particularly in areas where vegetables are irrigated with wastewater. The uptake of these heavy metals especially into the human food chain was done through these leafy vegetables and they may cause harmful effects on health. This study investigates the concentration of heavy metals in Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) samples that were planted and compared with those bought from supermarket. The samples were tested for Zn, Cu and Cd determination using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (F-AAS). The okra samples were digested with 65%  nitric acid and diluted to the mark with distilled water.  The results obtained show that the mean values of heavy metals studied for commercial okra obtained from the supermarket are generally higher than the okra’s that are self-planted. The concentration of Cu, Zn and Cd metals detected in our own planted okra are 74.34 μg/g, 111.51 μg/g and 39.18 μg/g respectively, as compared to the okra obtained from the supermarket with metals concentration of Cu at 455.39 μg/g, Zn 275.50 μg/g and Cd 28.95 μg/g respectively. The results indicated that the concentration obtained from both samples are still above the permissible limit as outlined in Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FOA) and World Health of Organization (WHO) except for concentration of Cd in commercial, and both okra samples are not safe for human consumption.