[Toxicologic evaluation of nitrates entering the body with plant products]

An acute toxicological experiment on rats has been performed. During 30 days the animals got nitrates with water and vegetable food. The activity of glucoso-6-phosphatase, malate dehydrogenase, beta-galactosidase, the content of N-acetylneuraminic acid was determined in liver, kidney and blood serum; the level of methemoglobin in blood was estimated. It was found that the changes of studied indexes are less expressed during nitrate introduction with food than with water; on the level of minimum concentrations the changes in non-specific symptom-complex were more expressed. The maximum innocuous intake of nitrates with vegetables is 500 mg in 24 hours taking into consideration the average weight of an individual (50 kg).