The Mineral Content of Mexican Fruits and Vegetables

As part of the development of new food composition tables for Mexico, a number of fruit and vegetable samples, grown in Mexico, were purchased fresh from the main market in Mexico City. After washing and drying to remove contaminants, the samples were freeze dried and analyzed for the major elements (Na, K, Ca, P, Mg, Fe) by flame photometric and spectrophotometric procedures and for the minor and trace elements (Cu, Zn, Mn, Co, Cr, Cd, Pb) by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results are compared with those from the United Kingdom and German food composition tables. In general there were no consistent differences between the European and Mexican data, though the P content of Mexican fruits tended to be lower. There were noticeably higher Pb levels in Mexican fruits than those of United Kingdom origin, while root and green vegetables showed similar Pb levels.