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Nitrogen in the Environment

  • Chapter
Plant Nitrogen

Abstract

When leafy vegetables such as spinach and lettuce are grown in greenhouses during winter and early spring, i.e. at low light intensity and short day length, they may accumulate a high amount of nitrate in the leaves (Corré and Breimer 1979). A high nitrate content in vegetables is undesirable, because it may be harmful for the consumer. Nitrate itself is not toxic, but it is easily reduced to the toxic compound nitrite. Reduction to nitrite can occur during postharvest storage of vegetables (Aworth et al. 1980), as well as after ingestion as food in saliva and in the gastrointestinal tract (Maynard et al. 1976; Walters and Walker 1979). Acute nitrite toxicity causes a respiratory dysfunction called methaemoglobinaemia. By the oxidation of the ferrous iron of haemoglobin to the ferric form, methaemoglobin is formed which cannot transport oxygen, thereby causing tissue asphyxia. Chronic nitrite poisoning may result in the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines. These N-nitroso compounds can be formed from nitrite and secondary amine compounds, which often occur in food (Walters and Walker 1979; Vermeer et al. 1998). As yet, the occurrence of (gastric) cancer has not been directly related to the consumption of nitrate, but it is generally accepted that a high nitrate intake should be prevented (Forman et al. 1985; Westgeest 1989).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Ecophysiology, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 800.84, 3508 TB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    M. W. Steege

  2. Department of Plant Biology, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN, Haren, The Netherlands

    Ineke Stulen

  3. Unité d’Agronomie, INRA, rue Fernand Christ, 02007, Laon Cedex, France

    Bruno Mary

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  1. M. W. Steege
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  2. Ineke Stulen
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  1. Department of Biological Science, Lancaster University, LA1 4YQ, Lancaster, UK

    Peter J. Lea

  2. Unité de Nutrition Azotée des Plantes, INRA, Route de Saint-Cyr, 78026, Versailles, France

    Jean-François Morot-Gaudry (Directeur Recherche) (Directeur Recherche)

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Steege, M.W., Stulen, I., Mary, B. (2001). Nitrogen in the Environment. In: Lea, P.J., Morot-Gaudry, JF. (eds) Plant Nitrogen. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04064-5_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04064-5_15

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