Concentration of Cu and Zn in some fruits and vegetables grown in North western Turkey

Abstract

The fruits and vegetables are the important source of essential trace elements for the people and constituted the lowest cost of main food for the majority of people in developing countries. Especially, the content of Cu and Zn in the fruits and vegetables is important for human nutrition. Cu and Zn contents were determined in twenty selected sites for each of fruits and vegetables grown in the Bursa province of northwestern Turkey. These fruits and vegetables include; apple, cucumber, grape, lettuce, onion, pepper, spinach, tomato and watermelon. The Cu concentration varied from 2.4 - 25.0 mg kg(-1) in fruits and from 1.2 - 2.2 mg kg(-1) in vegetables, while the Zn levels were 4.1 - 6.4 mg kg(-1) and 5.1 - 7.6 mg kg(-1) in fruits and vegetables respectively. The obtained Cu and Zn contents showed that fruits and vegetables from this part of the globe could serve as good dietary sources for essential trace metals, and the levels are within safety baseline content for human consumption in the province.