Characterization of Heavy Metals in Some Edible Dried Fruits and Nuts Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy

The heavy metal content of dried fruits, seed and nuts show some fluctuations depending on the source of fruit, seed and nut types. The amounts of Cd and Co in air-dried fruit samples ranged from 0.05721 mu g/g (white mulberry) and 0.21724 (persimmon) to 0.05101 (white mulberry) and 0.40833 mu g/g (persimmon), respectively. Also, the content of Cr and Mo in dried fruit samples was found to be between 5.05 (white mulberry) and 15.85 (persimmon) and 0.01374 mu g/g (white mulberry) and 0.15071 (persimmon), respectively. The heavy metal content of the fruits was different. The content of Cr, Ni and Pb in fruits is higher than other heavy metals. The content of Pb and Se in nuts and seeds is determined to be between 0.04613 (sunflower) and 0.66848 mu g/g (roasted pumpkin) and 0.237 (raw almond) and 1.85 mu g/g (salted peanut), respectively. The concentration order of elements in different edible seed and nuts was: Cr > Ni > Pb > Se > Co > Cd > Mo.