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Speciation and Separation of Trace Quantities of Hexavalent and Trivalent Chromium Species in Aqueous Extract of Wild Leafy Vegetables Using Multistep Pre-concentration Method

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Abstract

The presence of Cr(VI) in edible parts of vegetable plants might be representing a probable health risk to humans and animals. On the other hand, the presence of Cr(III) is beneficial for human health. A new method has been employed for the separation and pre-concentration of Cr(III)/Cr(VI) present in the aqueous extract (soup) of wild vegetables prior to determining with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. For the pre-concentration of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in two sets of aqueous extract of each vegetable, complexing reagents, 8-hydroxyquinoline (oxine) and ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC), was added respectively. Then the tunable solvent solution (TSS) was added based on 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene and decanol (1:1) in an aqueous system. The role of different variables for a proposed method such as the amount of ligands (oxine and APDC), pH of the solution, volume of TSS, purging time, and pressure of CO2 was investigated. The accuracy for the quantification of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) was determined by the standard addition method at optimized values of all factors, and > 98% of both species were obtained. The LOD and LOQ of Cr(III)/Cr(VI) were found to be 0.048/0.072 and 0.16/0.24 μg L−1, respectively. The data indicate that Cr(III) is found > 65% and Cr(VI) as < 35% in aqueous extract of all selected leafy vegetables, which is a good sign for public awareness to maintain human health by using these wild vegetables. These results will also be helpful to the researchers compiling the nutritional data sheet.

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Funding

The funding for the project was approved by the Higher Education Commission, Project No. 20-2834/R&D/HEC/12 entitled “Nutritional Assessment of Selected Non-Traditional Vegetables of Sindh”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh Jamshoro, Sindh, 76080, Pakistan

    Tasneem Gul Kazi, Nusrat Shahab Memon & Safia Sanam Memon

  2. Institute of Food Sciences and Technology, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, Sindh, 70060, Pakistan

    Saghir Ahmed Shaikh

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  1. Tasneem Gul Kazi
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  4. Safia Sanam Memon
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Correspondence to Tasneem Gul Kazi.

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Tasneem Gul Kazi declares that she no conflict of interest. Nusrat Shahab Memon declares that he no conflict of interest. Saghir Ahmed Shaikh declares that he no conflict of interest. Safia Sanam Memon declares that she no conflict of interest.

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Kazi, T.G., Memon, N.S., Shaikh, S.A. et al. Speciation and Separation of Trace Quantities of Hexavalent and Trivalent Chromium Species in Aqueous Extract of Wild Leafy Vegetables Using Multistep Pre-concentration Method. Food Anal. Methods 12, 1964–1972 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-019-01544-1

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