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A Survey of Nitrate and Nitrite Concentrations in Conventional and Organic‐Labeled Raw Vegetables at Retail
Author(s) -
Nuñez de González Maryuri T.,
Osburn Wesley N.,
Hardin Margaret D.,
Longnecker Michael,
Garg Harsha K.,
Bryan Nathan S.,
Keeton Jimmy T.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/1750-3841.12858
Subject(s) - spinach , nitrate , nitrite , food science , chemistry , zoology , organic farming , toxicology , environmental science , biology , agriculture , ecology , biochemistry , organic chemistry
A national survey of the nitrate ( NO 3 − ) and nitrite (NO 2 − ) concentrations in raw and highly consumed vegetables available at retail in the United States was conducted. A total of 194 samples of fresh broccoli, cabbage, celery, lettuce, and spinach categorized as conventional or organic by label were collected from 5 major cities in different geographic regions of the United States and analyzed to determineNO 3 − andNO 2 − concentrations. There were no differences in the meanNO 2 − values of conventional compared with organic vegetables taken from the 5 metropolitan areas. However, significant differences in mean pairwise comparisons between some conventional and organic vegetables forNO 3 − content were observed. The meanNO 2 − concentration of both conventional and organic vegetables ranged between 0.1 and 1.2 mg/kg of fresh weight (FW) with the exception of conventional spinach that contained 8.0 mg/kg FW. MeanNO 3 − contents of conventional broccoli, cabbage, celery, lettuce, and spinach were 394, 418, 1496, 851, and 2797 mg/kg FW, respectively, while their organic‐labeled counterparts averaged 204, 552, 912, 844, and 1318 mg/kg FW. In most cases, organic vegetables were numerically lower inNO 3 − content than their conventional counterparts. Based on survey results, the finding that lowNO 3 − levels were observed in some organic vegetables in different cities may warrant further study to determine if true differences exist, due to production practices, seasonal differences, and the magnitudes of those differences. Furthermore, the geographic differences inNO 3 − content of vegetables may flaw estimates of dailyNO 2 − andNO 3 − exposure.