Study of nitrate status in some vegetables collected from Kermanshah vegetables markets

Background and Objective: Much of the nitrate consumption by humans in the daily diet comes from vegetables. The high concentration of nitrate in edible parts of vegetables causes toxicity, anemia for children and nitrous amine production in adults. Nitrous amine may results in cancer. Samples were collected from four main vegetable markets in Kermanshah city in summer 2019 to investigate the concentrations of these compounds in edible vegetables with high consumption. Materials and Methods: After preparation of the samples in a laboratory, the nitrate were extracted and its concentration was determined by a spectrophotometer at wavelength 410 nm. Results: The results showed significant differences in nitrate concentrations for the vegetable samples taken from the different markets (p>0.05). The highest concentration of nitrate were observed in the leafy, tuberous, and fruit-bearing vegetables. The highest nitrate concentration among the leafy vegetables was observed in cress with an average of 2052.14 mg/kg Fresh Weight; among tuberous vegetables was potato with an average of 127.01 mg/kg Fresh Weight; and among fruit-bearing vegetables was cucumber with an average of 37.20 mg/kg Fresh Weight. Conclusion: The nitrate concentrations for celery, and red onion at the Azadi market were higher than the permissible limit, according to the national standard. Also, the nitrate concentrations in sugar beet leave and potato at the Toopkhaneh Market and nitrate concentration in cress at all the markets were higher than the permissible limit. It is recommended that the concentration of nitrate of edible vegetables should be determined at regular time intervals as well as during different seasons.