Residual Nitrate in Potato Tuber Samples Collected from Fields in Important Production Areas and the Main Fruit and Vegetables Supply Center of Tehran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Soil and Water Research Institute (SWRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Soil and Water Research Institute (SWRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

3 Researcher, Central Organization for Rural Cooperatives of Iran (CORC)

4 Researcher, Soil and Water Research Institute (SWRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

Abstract

Nitrate is an important pollutant that accumulates in edible parts of crops. This accumulation usually occurs because of misuse and excess use of N- fertilizers. Nitrate is transformed to nitrite and then to nitrosamine, which is a carcinogen compound, in digestion system of human and animal bodies. Potato is the third important foodstuff in Iranian food basket after wheat and rice. Therefore, it seems that evaluating the nitrate pollution in potato and recognition of the pollution sources and ways to reduce the pollution is necessary. Potato tuber samples were collected from the main Fruit and Vegetables Supply Center of Tehran once a week, from May 2008 to May 2009. Additionally, potato samples were collected directly from different farms in 9 most important potato-producing regions, namely, Esfahan, Charmahal, Hamadan, East-Azarbaijan, Ardabil, Tehran, Khozestan, Fars, and Kerman (Jiroft and Kahnooj). Nitrate content in edible part and water content of fresh potato tubers were determined in all 341 samples in the central laboratory of Soil and Water Research Institute of Iran. Results showed that nitrate content in potato tubers ranged from 10.2 mg. kg-1 FW, to 524 mg. kg-1 FW with a mean of 163.5 mg kg-1FW, which was in accordance with world normal range. Assuming 200 mg kg-1 FW as the European nitrate limit in potato tubers, it exceeded from this level in about 30% of the tuber samples, and assuming 246 mg kg -1 FW as the Iranian nitrate limit, it exceeded from this level in about 20% of the tuber samples. Results showed that harvest season could affect nitrate content in potato tuber. Mean nitrate content in potato tubers taken from Fruit and Vegetables Supply Center of Tehran during spring-summer was 216.55 mg kg-1 FW, and for samples taken during autumn-winter, it was 131.53 mg kg-1FW.

Keywords

References

  1. استاندارد ملی ایران، شماره 16596. مرز بیشینه مانده نیترات در محصولات کشاورزی. 1392. سازمان ملی استاندارد ایران.
  2. رازقی­فرد، م. 1372. تجمع نیترات در سبزی‌ها و رابطه آن با کیفیت آن. مجله کشاورزی و دام، 11: 28 و 29، تهران، ایران.
  3. سبد مطلوب غذایی برای جامعه ایرانی. 1392. وزارت بهداشت، درمان و آموزش پزشکی.
  4. سبحان اردکانی، سهیل، ک. شایسته، م. افیونی و ن. محبوبی صوفیانی. 1384. غلظت نیترات در برخی از فرآورده­های گیاهی اصفهان. مجله محیط­شناسی، 37: 76- 69.
  5. طباطبایی، س. ج. ، س. ج.، م. ج. نظری دلجو، ر. رستمی و ف. آزرمی. 1384. ارزیابی غلظت نیترات سبزی­های برگی، غده­ای و میوه­ای در شهرستان تبریز. چهارمین کنگره علوم باغبانی.
  6. طباطبایی، س. ج. ، م. ج. ملکوتی و ا. بای­بوردی. 1385. اثر طیف نور و فیلترهای مختلف رنگی بر غلظت نیترات و رشد و نمو کاهو در کشت آبکشت. مجله علوم خاک و آب، 20: 34- 26.
  7. فائزنیا، ف. 1375. بررسی نیاز سیب‌زمینی به ازت، فسفر و پتاسیم. نشریه فنی شماره 13/76. مرکز تحقیقات کشاورزی سمنان (شاهرود).
  8. ملکوتی، م. ج. 1375. کشاورزی پایدار و افزایش عملکرد با بهینه­سازی مصرف کود در ایران. انتشارات سازمان تحقیقات و آموزش کشاورزی، تهران، ایران.
  9. ملکوتی، م. ج.، م. ن. غیبی، 1379. تعیین حد بحرانی عناصر غذائی مؤثر در خاک، گیاه و میوه در راستای افزایش عملکرد کمی و کیفی محصولات استراتژیک کشور. چاپ دوم. نشر آموزش کشاورزی. کرج، ایران.
  10. ملکوتی، م. ج.، 1382. تولید محصولات کشاورزی عاری از نیترات و کادمیم گامی ارزنده در تأمین امنیت غذائی جامعه. نشریه فنی شماره 328 مؤسسه تحقیقات خاک و آب. انتشارات خانیران. تهران. ایران.
  11. ناصری، ح. ر. و ح. ندافیان، 1387، مدل­سازی انتقال آلاینده نیترات آب­های زیرزمینی در محدوده
    چاه­های آب شرب همدان، فصلنامه زمین شناسی ایران، سال دوم، شماره ششم، 87-98.
  12. Barker, A. S. and R. Smith. 1969. Extracting solution for potentiometric deterimenation of nitrate in plant tissue. J. of Agric. And Food Chem., 17: 1284-1287.
  13. Cataldo, D. A., M. Haroon, L. E. Schrader and V. L. Youngs. 1975. Rapid colorimetric determination of nitrate in plant tissues by nitration of salicylic acid. Commun. Soil Sci. and Plant Anal. 6(1): 71- 80.
  14. Cieslik E and Sikora E, Correlation between the levels of nitrates and nitrites and the contents of potassium, calcium and magnesium in potato tubers. Food Chem 63:525–528 (1998).
  15. EC (European Commission), Commission Regulation (EC) No 563/2002 of 2 April 2002 amending Regulation (EC) No 466/2001 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. Official J Eur Commun L86:5 – 6 (2002).
  16. EC, SCF, Commission of the European Communications Scientific Committee for food, Report of the Scientific Committee for Food on Nitrate and Nitrite, 26th series, EC. Brussels, 1992.
  17. JECFA 2002. Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants. Fifty-ninth report of the Joint FAO/WHO Experts Committee on Food Additives. WHO Technical Reports series 913. 20-32.
  18. Santamaria, P., A. Elia, F. Serio and E. Todaro. 1999. A survey of nitrate   and oxalate content in fresh vegetables. J. of the science and Food and Agriculture. 79: 1882- 1888.
  19. Shahlaei, AS., N. Alemzadeh Ansari and F. Sadeghie Dehkordie. 2007.   Evaluation of nitrate and nitrite content of Iran southern (Ahwaz) vegetables during winter and spring of 2006. Asian J. of Plant Sci.. 6(8): 1197- 1203.
  20. Yeganeh M., K. Bazargan. 2016. Human health risks arising from nitrate in potatoes consumed in Iran and calculation nitrate critical value using risk assessment study. Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment. 22, NO. 3, 817–824.
Iranian Journal of Soil Research
Volume 32, Issue 4
March 2019
Pages 471-482

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics