KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ORGANIC AND INORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN SLIM TEAS HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN A CENTER OF ATTENTION SINCE THE CONSUMPTION OF THESE BEVERAGES HAS INCREASED FOR THE PAST YEARS. THEREFORE, ON THE ONE HAND, THE GOAL OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO DEVELOP AN ACCURATE METHOD OF THE MULTI-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF BLACK TEA BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA OPTICAL EMISSION SPECTROMETRY (ICP-OES) WITH THREE VARIOUS EXTRACTION METHODS...

AMARANTH IS A PLANT SPECIES THAT WAS ESSENTIALLY FOUND IN SOUTH AMERICA. IT IS KNOWN THAT AMARANTH CAN CONCENTRATE HEAVY METALS. IN THIS RESEARCH, THE CONCENTRATION OF TL, CD, AND PB, 3 TOXIC METALS WERE DETERMINED IN THREE SPECIES OF AMARANTH SEEDS: A. HYPOCHONDRIACUS, A. CRUENTUS, AND A. DUBIUS. THE DETERMINATIONS WERE DONE BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA OPTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPY [1]. THE RESULT SHOWS THAT CD AND TL, WERE FOUND IN MINOR CONCENTRATIONS THAN ALLOWED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO; 120 AND 4 MG KG−1 RESP.); TL (MG KG−1): A. DUBIUS (0.76) A. CRUENTUS (<0.50) AND A. HYPOCHONDRIACUS (<0.50); CD (MG KG−1): A. DUBIUS (8.19) A. CRUENTUS (1.15) AND A. HYPOCHONDRIACUS (1.20). BUT, THE CONCENTRATION OF PB WAS HIGH: A. DUBIUS (19.04) A. CRUENTUS (30.20) AND A. HYPOCHONDRIACUS (35.56), THAT IS, MORE THAN THE MAXIMUM OF WHO (10 MG KG−1). TO AVOID SYSTEMATIC ERROR, RECOVERY AND VALIDATION STUDIES WERE PERFORMED: RECOVERY TEST: 102.3%; VALIDATION (BY STANDARD ADDITION): 96.0–103.1%. FOR PB, HIGH CONCENTRATIONS WERE FOUND IN THE 3 SPECIES, OVERCOMING THE ALLOWED LIMIT IN FOODS BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) WHOSE VALUE IS 10 MG KG−1. PB CONCENTRATION IS HIGHER IN A. CRUENTUS AND A. HYPOCHONDRIACUS, BEING MORE THAN THREE TIMES THE WHO ALLOWED LIMIT; FOR A. DUBIUS, THE PB CONCENTRATION IS TWICE THIS LIMIT. CD WAS FOUND IN THE 3 SPECIES, BUT ITS VALUES ARE BELOW THE WHO ALLOWED LIMIT OF 120 MG KG−1 OF VEGETABLE. THE CONCENTRATION OF TL FOR A. CRUENTUS, A. HYPOCHONDRIACUS, AND A. DUBIUS WERE BELOW 4 MG KG−1, WHICH IS THE WHO ALLOWED MAXIMUM. TOXIC METALS ARE PRESENT IN SPECIES OF AMARANTH SEEDS AT DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS, WHICH, IN SOME CASES, EXCEEDED THE PERMISSIBLE LEVELS, SUCH AS THE CASE OF PB. TOXIC ELEMENTS CAN ACCUMULATE IN PLANTS THROUGH BOTH FOLIAGE AND ROOT SYSTEMS. THIS RESEARCH DISCUSSED THE PRESENCE OF TOXIC ELEMENTS IN THREE AMARANTH SPECIES. BASED ON THE RESULTS OBTAINED AND SINCE THE BIO CONCENTRATION ABILITY OF AMARANTH FOR SEVERAL METALS IS WELL KNOWN, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT IF AMARANTH IS CONSUMED IT CAN BE HARMFUL FOR THE HUMAN HEALTH, IT IS ADVISABLE TO ANALYZE THE PRESENCE OF PB IN AMARANTH SEEDS PREVIOUS TO CONSUMPTION. THESE LEVELS OF PB INDICATE THAT AMARANTH SEED ARE TOXIC FOR THE HUMAN BEINGS. REGARDING OTHER TOXIC ELEMENTS PRESENT IN THESE SPECIES, TL AND CD WERE FOUND IN LOW CONCENTRATIONS; THEIR ANALYSIS IS ALSO ADVISED, MAINLY IN POLLUTED REGIONS UNDER RISK OF METAL CONTAMINATION, TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE UNDER THE ALLOWED LIMITS [1].