Overview
Romero-Estévez and colleagues measured cadmium, nickel and lead by graphite-furnace AAS in 16 composite samples of peeled banana from 11 producing provinces of Ecuador. Lead exceeded the 100 µg/kg Codex and EU level in 12 of 16 samples.
Key numbers
- Cadmium 9.3 to 47.3 µg/kg, nickel 16.1 to 105.6 µg/kg, lead 36.9 to 538.0 µg/kg (Table 1, p. 5).
- Highest lead: Santa Elena 538.0 µg/kg and Bolívar 420.9 µg/kg (Table 1).
Methods (brief)
Washed, peeled and homogenized pulp dried at 70 °C; about 1 g microwave-digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide; GFAAS. Fortification recoveries 80.6 to 119.8% and repeatability RSD below 8%.
Evidence Fitness
One composite per location with good recovery data. The basis is unclear: the Abstract says fresh weight and the Methods say dry weight, and moisture values are not printed. Some values fall below the fortification levels described as quantification limits. Bananas are measured directly and belong to the non-apple fruit group.
Related evidence
- Banana
- Non-apple fruit
- Content and the relationship between cadmium, nickel, and lead concentrations in Ecuadorian cocoa beans from nine provinces
- Lead
- Cadmium
Update history
No substantive edit history is available in this build. The full commit record is available in git.