Determination of the content and evaluation of the non-cancerous risk of nitrate absorption due to consumption of vegetables distributed at the Central Fruit and Vegetable Square of Isfahan

Background: Excessive nitrate entry into the human body, can increase the risk of non-cancerous diseases. This research was done to determine the content and evaluate the non-cancerous risk of nitrate absorption due to consumption of vegetables distributed in the Central Fruit and Vegetable Square of Isfahan in 2016.   Methods: In this cross-sectional study, in summer and winter, a total of 300 samples were taken randomly from cucumber, tomato, lettuce and spinach distributed at the Central Fruit and Vegetable Square of Isfahan and the nitrate concentration was determined according to the Haftbaradaran et al method. Non-cancerous risk of nitrate absorption in vegetables was evaluated using the EPA method for adult men and women, and the results were analyzed by t-test method.   Results: The highest and lowest concentrations of nitrate were observed in spinach and tomato with the amount of 1009.2 and 57.8 in summer and 1405.5 and 121.9 mg/kg in winter respectively. Also, the highest and lowest non-cancer risk was related to the consumption of spinach and tomato; and the highest and lowest non-cancerous risk in summer was 0.285 and 0.027 for men and 0.342 and 0.030 for women respectively and in most cases was below one.   Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the nitrate concentration in the vegetables was significantly below the standards, and the daily consumption of each of the studied vegetables (58 g/day) does not have any non-cancerous risk.