تعیین غلظت نیترات در برخی محصولات پر مصرف کشاورزی با استفاده از کروماتوگرافی مایع با فشار بالا در استان کرمان

One of the most important factors in determining the quality of agricultural products is assessing the level of nitrates in their tissues. Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers containing nitrates, in addition to their inadequate absorption in plant biological processes, leads to their accumulation in agricultural products and a decline in their quality. High concentrations of nitrates can cause anemia, various poisoning in children, and the production of carcinogenic nitrosamines in the body. This research aimed to investigate the nitrate concentration in commonly consumed agricultural products in households (onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and lettuce) in the cities of Kerman and Jiroft in the spring of 2024. For sampling, 15 samples of 2 kilograms were randomly collected from farms and fields for each product and transferred to the laboratory. Potassium nitrate powder was used to prepare the standard. The determination of the permissible limit of nitrates was carried out using the procedure number 16721, provided by the Standards and Industrial Research Organization of Iran. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Ultraviolet (UV) detector was used to measure the nitrate levels in the samples. The device's detection limit was 1 nanogram per kilogram, with a reported recovery rate of 108%. The highest nitrate concentrations in onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and lettuce were found to be 109.9, 19.2, 243.6, and 19.6 milligrams per kilogram, respectively. The results of this study showed that none of the samples exceeded the specified Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) for nitrates set by the National Standardization Organization and Codex. Therefore, it can be said that the targeted products in Kerman and Jiroft have an acceptable level of nitrate accumulation in terms of quality.