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PRESENCE OF NITRATE AND NITRITE IN VEGETABLES GROWN FOR SELF-CONSUMPTION

MIRCEA DUMITRU CROITORU¹, IBOLYA FÜLÖP^1*, AMALIA MIKLOS¹, BARNABÁS HOSSZÚ¹, VICTORIA-LAURA TĂTAR¹, DANIELA-LUCIA MUNTEAN²

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The presence of nitrate in vegetables has been described in a large number of scientific papers. Our paper focused on the presence of nitrate and nitrite anions in vegetables grown for self-consumption. Measurement of nitrite and nitrate content was made using an HPLC-UV/VIS method (UV detection for nitrate and VIS detection for nitrite after derivatization with sulphanilic acid and 1-naphthylamine). Very low concentrations of nitrate were found in most of the samples we tested, with very few exceptions. The lowest concentrations found in nitrate rich vegetables were: < 0.6 mg/kg, 5.50 mg/kg, 2.17 mg/kg, < 0.6 mg/kg and 202.14 mg/kg for lettuce leaves (Lactuca sativa), beetroot root (Beta vulgaris), carrot root (Daucus carota subsp. sativus), parsley root (Petroselinum crispum) and radish root (Raphanus sativus), respectively. Even lettuce proved to contain in many cases unquantifiable concentrations of nitrate (LOQ = 0.6 mg/kg). The results show that EU regulations regarding the nitrate concentrations of vegetables are very permissive. Nitrite was quantifiable in most samples (LOQ = 6 μg/kg). No correlation was observed between nitrate and nitrite content of the vegetables.