Evaluation of the Nutrient Composition of Fruits Selected From Different Markets in Lagos, Nigeria Together With Their Heavy Metals Contents

Fruits are a form of staple food for humans obtained naturally. They contain various quantities of essentialnutrients in the right proportion. Intake of fruits in the diet is usually a very heathy lifestyle as fruits prevents diseaseand keeps us healthy.Ingestion of trace amount of heavy metals through fruits leads to bioaccumulation producing serious health hazards. Theaim of the study is to investigate the amount of heavy metals in fruits obtained from different markets in Lagos, Nigeria.Materials and methods: Five trace metals and five toxic metals were analyzed in different fruit samples obtained fromLagos, Nigeria using the atomic absorption Spectrophotometer. Proximate analysis was carried out to determine thenutrient composition of the fruits.Result: The result showed that 80% of the composition of fruits is made of moisture content. The carbohydrate content infruits is about 10% while crude fibre makes up about 2%. From the analysis of trace metals carried out, paw paw (7.71mg/kg) had the highest amount of zinc content followed by pineapple (6.60 mg/kg). Iron is high in pears (3.12 mg/kg) andBanana (2.26 mg/kg) while it is lowest in apple (0.59 mg/kg). Copper and Mn ranged from 0.40 t0 2.20 mg/kg. Analysisof the toxic heavy metals showed that lead ranged from 0.0 mg/kg to 0.12 mg/kg in carrot. This is high. Cd range from0.0 in orange to 0.14mg/kg in apples. Cr ranged from 0.01mg/kg in healthyto 0.07mg/kg in orange. Nickel is highest inbanana (9.21mg/kg) and lowest in water melon (0.37mk/kg).Conclusion: Bioaccumulation of these heavy metals over time can be hazardous to health. It is better for the governmentto check the sources of these heavy metals and remediate them so as to prevent the exposure of the populace to diseases.