Determination of heavy metals in some selecte d fruits in borno

INTRODUCTION
Fruits are the mature ovaries of plant, typically containing seeds. They are produced by flowering
plants to protect seeds during their development and aid in their dispersal. Fruits are usually sweet
or sour in taste and are commonly consumed as a food source due to their nutritional benefits.
Fruits come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colours, and flavours and they are an essential part
of a healthy diet due to their high content of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Some
examples of fruits include apples, orange, bananas, strawberries, grapes, and mangoes. Fruits are
one of the most important components of the human diet, and it is widely recognised that
consuming these foods on a regular basis is one of the best ways to improve one's health.
Furthermore, people all over the world have recently become concerned about the benefits of
nutrition more fresh fruits rather than red meat for good health because they significantly reduce
the incidence of chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other agerelated diseases (Prakash et al., 2012). Heavy metal contamination, which is induced by a variety
of anthropogenic activities, poses a serious threat to food safety (Ali et al., 2018; Cui et al., 2004).

Agricultural foods are frequently contaminated with contaminants, particularly heavy metals, as a
result of direct and indirect industrial operations, automotive pollution, excessive metal-based
fertilisation, and pesticide use. Some heavy metals, such as Cd and Pb, on the other hand, have no
known positive role in human metabolism and are regarded chemical carcinogens even at
extremely low levels of exposure (Jarup, 2003). Heavy metals that are present in very small
amounts in the environment are biomagnified and become part of various food chains, where their
concentration rises to levels that are dangerous to humans and other living things. However, eating
is the main route of human exposure to heavy metals, which constitute one of the potential risks
linked with foodstuffs (Mart-Cid et al., 2008). The dietary intake of lead, copper, and chromium
through food has been observed to be higher than allowed limits in urban areas, owing to plant
origin fruits and vegetables (Yebpella et al., 2011).

Fresh fruits are of great value and widely used for dietary purposes. Importance in the diet because
of the presence of vitamins and mineral salts. In addition, they contain water, calcium, iron, sulphur
and potassium. They are very important protective food and useful for the maintenance of health
and the prevention and treatment of various diseases . However, these plants contain both essential
and toxic metals over a wide range of concentrations. Heavy metals have been reported to have
positive and negative roles in human life because the body need in low level of construction if this
level excess the effect came negative Some like cadmium, lead and mercury are major
contaminants of food supply and may be considered the most important problem to our
environment while others like iron, zinc and copper are essential for biochemical reactions in the
body. Generally, most heavy metals have long biological halflives and have the potential for
accumulation in the different organ of body leading to unwanted effect side. There is a strong link
between micronutrient nutrition of plants, animals and humans and the uptake and impact of
contaminants in these organisms. The content of essential elements in plants is soil being affected
by the characteristics of the soil and the ability of plants to selectively accumulate some metals
Additional sources of heavy metals for plants are: rainfall in atmospheric polluted areas, traffic
density, use oil or treatment to plant to completed the Maturation of some crops or to give crops
attractive look to costumer.

Many factors contribute to heavy metal pollution in fruits, including irrigation water, industrial
pollutants, the harvesting process, storage, and/or at the point of sale (Huang et al., 2014).
Furthermore, food security is a key concern throughout the globe. During the previous eras, the
growing response for food security has stimulated explorations concerning risks related to the
ingestion of food stuffs adulterated by pesticides, heavy metals, and toxins. The expanding patterns
in food contamination are to a countless extent while farming, poor handling and taking care of
food at the market, and utilization of polluted wastewater for water systems (Guerra et al., 2012).
Consumption of heavy metal-polluted foods may result in the accumulation of these pollutants in
various tissues, resulting in both chronic and acute health effects (Jarup, 2003). As a result, it is
plausible to believe that eating fruits containing heavy metals poses a health risk to consumers.
Therefore, determination of toxic metals, exposure assessment, and the risk characterization of the
contaminated food material are all the decisive components in the estimation of health risks.

    Date: 2026-08-02 00:00:00.000000