A research group from the University of La Laguna has warned of the content of polluting elements that exceed the recommended daily dose in dehydrated fruits, including toxic metals such as aluminum, cadmium and lead.
Many of these products come from third countries, such as dates, and researchers emphasize that it is important to monitor the content of these contaminants, as reported this Monday by the educational center.
The work of the University of La Laguna, which has been published in the journal Foods, analyzes the content of toxic metals in dehydrated fruits such as dates, prunes, sultanas, dried apricots and dried figs to assess the exposure derived from their consumption.
The study was signed by assistant professor Soraya Paz, from the Interuniversity Group of Environmental Toxicology and Safety of Food and Medicines of the academic center.
The researcher explains that the samples of dehydrated fruits were acquired in the main commercial areas of Tenerife, supermarkets and local sales, where they chose the best-selling brands, such as white brands and better-known brands.
The determination of the content of toxic metals was carried out by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP-OES). As relevant results, the aluminum content recorded in prunes stands out, with an average of 12.7 mg Al/kg.
However, when carrying out the risk assessment, and if a consumption of 30 g/day of these products is established (indicated as a recommended or normal ration), the intake of lithium (Li) in all dehydrated fruits stands out.
In fact, in the case of dried plums it reaches a percentage of 35% of the tolerable daily intake of lithium established by the European Food Safety Authority at 2 μg/kg of body weight per day.
However, the researcher from the University of La Laguna indicates that maintaining a consumption of 30 g/day of any of the dried fruits analyzed would not pose any risk to health from ingesting the toxic metals analyzed.
However, it is pertinent to carry out this type of study given the increase in contaminants in food, in general, adds the university center.
Dehydrated fruits are one of the most consumed products by the Spanish population, and in fact their intake has increased in recent years due to their longer shelf life, offering faster access compared to fresh fruits and, especially, for its nutritional properties since, when dehydrated, a greater concentration of vitamins, minerals and fiber is achieved.
