Monitoring survey of nitrate content in beetroot, radish and cabbage in Poland

Nitrates, compounds commonly occurring in nature, are present for example in vegetables, where they accumulate and become their contaminants. It is estimated that approximately 70-90% of nitrates intake comes from vegetables, which are therefore the main source of human exposure to these compounds through dietary intake. The European Union legislation limits nitrates as contaminants to three leafy vegetables, i.e. lettuce, spinach and rucola. The EU Member States are obliged to monitor nitrate levels in vegetables which may contain significant levels of these compounds.

Objective. To present the results of monitoring surveys on nitrate levels in radish and beetroot as well as in cabbage carried out in Poland between 2012 and 2019.

A total of 966 vegetable samples were tested. Chemical analyses were carried out in accredited laboratories of the State Sanitary Inspection. Analyses were performed by spectrophotometric methods using nitrate reduction on cadmium columns or by HPLC.

The median nitrate content in beetroot was 1,260.0 mg NO- 3 /kg, whilst at the 95th percentile level - 3,222.2 mg NO-3 /kg. The levels of nitrates in beetroot preserves were lower: 1,030.3 mg NO-3 /kg (median) and 2337,2 mg NO-3 /kg (95th percentile). The median content of nitrates in radish and cabbage was 1,337.0 mg NO-3 /kg and 369,0 mg NO-3 /kg respectively, while at the 95th percentile the content of these compounds was found to be 3,381.5 mg NO-3 /kg and 1545,8 mg NO-3 /kg, respectively.

The nitrate content in radish and cabbage does not pose a risk to the health of consumers, whilst the consumption of beetroot containing significant amounts of the above mentioned compounds may result in exceeding the ADI especially for young children.