Content and the relationship between cadmium, nickel, and lead concentrations in Ecuadorian cocoa beans from nine provinces

• Published in: Food control 2019-12, Vol.106, p.106750, Article 106750
• Main Authors: Romero-Estévez, David, Yánez-Jácome, Gabriela S., Simbaña-Farinango, Karina, Navarrete, Hugo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atomic absorption spectrophotometry; Cocoa beans; Food analysis; Food composition; Metal content; Multivariate regression; Pearson correlation coefficient; Theobroma cacao L
• ISSN: 0956-7135; 1873-7129
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.106750

Heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd) are a global concern; recent researches have concluded that they are related to health risks caused by contaminated food intake. Although Cd contents in cocoa beans and their derivatives have been investigated, the relationship of Cd concentration with other metals such as nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) information is not available. Thus, this study uses a general approach to examine Cd, Ni, and Pb concentrations in cocoa beans from nine Ecuadorian provinces. It aims to determine a possible relationship between each metal content. As results, Ni was the most abundant reaching concentrations between 1.462 and 8.528 mg kg−1 (mean 3.930 mg kg−1), followed by Pb between 0.502 and 1.966 mg kg−1 (mean 1.432 mg kg−1) and Cd between 0.267 and 1.715 mg kg−1 (mean 0.753 mg kg−1). The regression analysis results (