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Determination of the Levels of Some Essential and Toxic Metals in Leaves, Seeds and Fruits of Pumpkin (Cucurbitapepo D.) Samples from Tepi South West Ethiopia

Received: 28 July 2022    Accepted: 6 September 2022    Published: 29 December 2022
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Abstract

Vegetables have since ancient times, played a very important role in human life; they have been used for food, traditional medicines, and source of fiber and other purposes and also as fodder for domestic animals. Data about chemical composition of pumpkin itself is still insufficient, especially regarding the mineral content of pumpkin. As a result of such circumstances, there is a need for determination of essential and toxic metals in leaves, seeds and fruit of pumpkin, which was the main goal of this research. First the leaves, fruits and seeds were collected, dried, and digested by wet digestion method and levels of metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The accuracy of the procedure was evaluated by analyzing the digest of the spiked samples with standard solution and the percentage recoveries varied from 81.76% to 120.00%. The study found out that the levels of essential metals were in the order of Mg 454.280 mg/kg >Mn (202.222mg/kg > Fe (28.568mg/kg >Cu (23.600mg/kg) >Zn (7.673mg/kg) in the seed, Mg (255.233mg/kg) > Mn (187.360mg/kg) > Fe (31.467mg/kg) >Zn (11.93mg/kg) > Cu (8.200mg/kg) in the fruit Mg (524.60mg/kg) >Mn (190.222mg/kg) >Fe (34.62mg/kg) >Cu (20.01mg/kg) >Zn (8.62mg/kg) in the leaf samples respectively, whereas for non-essential metals the concentration of Cd was 0.147mg/kg >Pb (0.013mg/kg in the seed, Cd (0.088mg/kg) > Pb (0.014mg/kg) in the fruit and Pb (0.014mg/Kg) > Cd (0.012mg/kg) samples respectively. A pair wise t-test at 95% confidence level indicated that there is significant difference in the levels of metals among the two samples means. The amounts of all selected essential Minerals especially (Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn) and toxic non-essential metals (Cd and Pb) concentration analyzed in all pumpkin seed, leaf and fruit were in the range of the recommended values of WHO/FAO and detection limit of the instrument used. The result indicates that, all parts of the plant (seed, leaf and fruit) are rich in minerals and recommended to be taken for healthiness.

Published in International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology (Volume 7, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13
Page(s) 62-73
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Essential Metals, Minerals, Pumpkin, Concentration, Food

References
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    Biadg Fetene, Kassahun Assega. (2022). Determination of the Levels of Some Essential and Toxic Metals in Leaves, Seeds and Fruits of Pumpkin (Cucurbitapepo D.) Samples from Tepi South West Ethiopia. International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology, 7(2), 62-73. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13

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    Biadg Fetene; Kassahun Assega. Determination of the Levels of Some Essential and Toxic Metals in Leaves, Seeds and Fruits of Pumpkin (Cucurbitapepo D.) Samples from Tepi South West Ethiopia. Int. J. Biochem. Biophys. Mol. Biol. 2022, 7(2), 62-73. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13

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    Biadg Fetene, Kassahun Assega. Determination of the Levels of Some Essential and Toxic Metals in Leaves, Seeds and Fruits of Pumpkin (Cucurbitapepo D.) Samples from Tepi South West Ethiopia. Int J Biochem Biophys Mol Biol. 2022;7(2):62-73. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13,
      author = {Biadg Fetene and Kassahun Assega},
      title = {Determination of the Levels of Some Essential and Toxic Metals in Leaves, Seeds and Fruits of Pumpkin (Cucurbitapepo D.) Samples from Tepi South West Ethiopia},
      journal = {International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology},
      volume = {7},
      number = {2},
      pages = {62-73},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijbbmb.20220702.13},
      abstract = {Vegetables have since ancient times, played a very important role in human life; they have been used for food, traditional medicines, and source of fiber and other purposes and also as fodder for domestic animals. Data about chemical composition of pumpkin itself is still insufficient, especially regarding the mineral content of pumpkin. As a result of such circumstances, there is a need for determination of essential and toxic metals in leaves, seeds and fruit of pumpkin, which was the main goal of this research. First the leaves, fruits and seeds were collected, dried, and digested by wet digestion method and levels of metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The accuracy of the procedure was evaluated by analyzing the digest of the spiked samples with standard solution and the percentage recoveries varied from 81.76% to 120.00%. The study found out that the levels of essential metals were in the order of Mg 454.280 mg/kg >Mn (202.222mg/kg > Fe (28.568mg/kg >Cu (23.600mg/kg) >Zn (7.673mg/kg) in the seed, Mg (255.233mg/kg) > Mn (187.360mg/kg) > Fe (31.467mg/kg) >Zn (11.93mg/kg) > Cu (8.200mg/kg) in the fruit Mg (524.60mg/kg) >Mn (190.222mg/kg) >Fe (34.62mg/kg) >Cu (20.01mg/kg) >Zn (8.62mg/kg) in the leaf samples respectively, whereas for non-essential metals the concentration of Cd was 0.147mg/kg >Pb (0.013mg/kg in the seed, Cd (0.088mg/kg) > Pb (0.014mg/kg) in the fruit and Pb (0.014mg/Kg) > Cd (0.012mg/kg) samples respectively. A pair wise t-test at 95% confidence level indicated that there is significant difference in the levels of metals among the two samples means. The amounts of all selected essential Minerals especially (Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn) and toxic non-essential metals (Cd and Pb) concentration analyzed in all pumpkin seed, leaf and fruit were in the range of the recommended values of WHO/FAO and detection limit of the instrument used. The result indicates that, all parts of the plant (seed, leaf and fruit) are rich in minerals and recommended to be taken for healthiness.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Determination of the Levels of Some Essential and Toxic Metals in Leaves, Seeds and Fruits of Pumpkin (Cucurbitapepo D.) Samples from Tepi South West Ethiopia
    AU  - Biadg Fetene
    AU  - Kassahun Assega
    Y1  - 2022/12/29
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13
    T2  - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology
    JF  - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology
    JO  - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology
    SP  - 62
    EP  - 73
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-5862
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220702.13
    AB  - Vegetables have since ancient times, played a very important role in human life; they have been used for food, traditional medicines, and source of fiber and other purposes and also as fodder for domestic animals. Data about chemical composition of pumpkin itself is still insufficient, especially regarding the mineral content of pumpkin. As a result of such circumstances, there is a need for determination of essential and toxic metals in leaves, seeds and fruit of pumpkin, which was the main goal of this research. First the leaves, fruits and seeds were collected, dried, and digested by wet digestion method and levels of metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The accuracy of the procedure was evaluated by analyzing the digest of the spiked samples with standard solution and the percentage recoveries varied from 81.76% to 120.00%. The study found out that the levels of essential metals were in the order of Mg 454.280 mg/kg >Mn (202.222mg/kg > Fe (28.568mg/kg >Cu (23.600mg/kg) >Zn (7.673mg/kg) in the seed, Mg (255.233mg/kg) > Mn (187.360mg/kg) > Fe (31.467mg/kg) >Zn (11.93mg/kg) > Cu (8.200mg/kg) in the fruit Mg (524.60mg/kg) >Mn (190.222mg/kg) >Fe (34.62mg/kg) >Cu (20.01mg/kg) >Zn (8.62mg/kg) in the leaf samples respectively, whereas for non-essential metals the concentration of Cd was 0.147mg/kg >Pb (0.013mg/kg in the seed, Cd (0.088mg/kg) > Pb (0.014mg/kg) in the fruit and Pb (0.014mg/Kg) > Cd (0.012mg/kg) samples respectively. A pair wise t-test at 95% confidence level indicated that there is significant difference in the levels of metals among the two samples means. The amounts of all selected essential Minerals especially (Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn) and toxic non-essential metals (Cd and Pb) concentration analyzed in all pumpkin seed, leaf and fruit were in the range of the recommended values of WHO/FAO and detection limit of the instrument used. The result indicates that, all parts of the plant (seed, leaf and fruit) are rich in minerals and recommended to be taken for healthiness.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Mizan Tepi University, Tepi, Ethiopia

  • College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Mizan Tepi University, Tepi, Ethiopia

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