Levels of Trace Elements in Commercial Fruit Juices in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Potable water, fruit juices and soft drinks are some of the most widespread beverages in the habitual diet, and they can contribute to trace element dietary intake. Heavy metals' toxicity is the result of their interactions with the enzymatic systems from the animal cells or some constituents of cells' membranes. Population can be contaminated with heavy metals by ingestion of contaminated or polluted food and water. The concentration of heavy metals in food products is varied, depending on their origin, storage conditions and processing technologies.
We determined the concentrations of zinc(Zn), copper(Cu), iron(Fe), chromium(Cr), manganese(Mn), cobalt(Co) and nickel(Ni) in apple, orange and mango fruit juice samples of 15 different brands widely consumed in Saudi Arabia. Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry was used to analyze fruit juice samples processed with a HNO3 -V2O5 acid digestion. In analyzed Samples, the mean (±SD) concentration values in ppb of Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Co, Cr, and Ni in apple juice are: (524.00±43.06); (325.36±23.12);(317.79±21.56); (23.48±2.23); (8.07±0.95); (6.36±0.94); and (6.21±0.90) respectively.
The mean (±SD) concentration values in ppb of Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Co, Cr, and Ni in orange juice are: (894.80±45.21); (361.27±24.11); (500.00±38.88); (20.93±2.36); (7.93±1.02);(5.93±0.92) and (5.73±0.91) respectively. Finally, the mean (±SD) concentration values in ppb of Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Co, Cr, and Ni in mango juice are: (486.57±35.25); (463.50±32.67); (461.07±29.49); (21.85±2.58); (8.14±1.28); (7.64±1.02) and
(5.93±0.96) respectively. Our results for fruit juice are compared with Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) values and also with the corresponding values of different countries available in literature.