Evaluación de metales pesados en nísperos (Eriobotrya japonica) cultivados en la sección urbana del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito

Abstract

In recent times, environmental pollution is one of the causes of thousands of deaths worldwide due to the different diseases produced by certain pollutants and due to the lack of food, which has caused cities with high pollution index to generate cultivation plans to purify environments and provide citizens with edible species, in this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate heavy metals in loquat trees (Eriobotrya japonica) grown in the urban section of the Metropolitan District of Quito. In this sense, ripe fruit was sampled from loquat trees grown in fifteen different locations in high traffic streets and avenues in Quito. The fresh samples were evaluated for equatorial and longitudinal diameter, weight and number of seeds, and the edible part of the fresh fruit was evaluated for pH, soluble solids, % titratable acidity, % ash and % moisture. In addition, cadmium and chromium heavy metals were quantified in freeze-dried material by microwave acid extraction and mass spectrometry. The results showed maximum values of equatorial diameter of 3.2 cm, longitudinal diameter of 4 cm, weight of 25.9 g, seed number of 4.4 units, pH of 4.4, soluble solids of 15.0 °Brix, titratable acidity of 3.5 %, ash of 59.9 %, moisture of 98.8 %, cadmium concentration of 94.6 µg/g PS and chromium of 60.5 µg/g PS. The results allow the establishment of environmental improvement programs within the Metropolitan District of Quito, using species that do not generate complications for the population and contribute to improving the environment.