STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF Cu AND Zn CONCENTRATIONS IN BLACK TRUMPETS (CRATERELLUS CORNUCOPIOIDE). ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT

The aim of this study was to determine copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in wild edible black trumpet mushrooms (Craterellus cornucopioides) from the Batak mountain, Bulgaria. The preparation of samples was made by means of dry ashing and dissolution in 3 M HCl. An atomic absorption spectrometer "AAnalyst 800 with graphite furnace HGA" Company "Perkin Elmer was used for determination of Cu and Zn content in the mushroom samples. Wavelengths: Cu 324.8 nm and Zn 213.9 nm was used. The total Cu content in mushroom samples varied from 3.436 mg kg -1 tо 5.962 mg kg -1 , and the total Zn content of samples ranged between 9.636 mg kg -1 and 13.981 mg kg -1 . According to WHO criteria, all measured Cu and Zn concentrations were under the permissible limits. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) program for Windows was used for statistical data processing. The differences between the values of parameters are characterised by the range, dispersion, standard deviation and coefficient of variation The ecological risk was calculated confirming that the Batak mountain is an ecologically pure region.