Comparative Study on the Influence of Grilling Height on the Concentration of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHS) and Some Toxic Metals in Grilled Foods

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Abstract:

A comparative study was carried out on the effect of grilling height on the extent of accumulation of the 16 US EPA priority PAHs and some volatile (As and Hg) and non-volatile (Mn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Cd and Ni) heavy metals in two kinds of roasted foods; yam (Dioscorea Rotundata ) and plantain (Musa Paradisiaca) commonly consumed in Nigeria. Yam and two variants of plantain (unripe and ripe) were considered for this study. Two grilling heights (10 cm and 20 cm) were employed on each of the samples, amounting to a total of nine samples with the raw samples of each serving as reference. The samples were simulated as obtainable in normal practice for an expected duration, dried to constant weight, pulverised and homogenized. PAHs were extracted using soxhlet extraction technique, prior to clean up by column chromatography and determined using High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Ultra Violet (UV) Detector (HPLC-UVD), (ChemStation). Whilst, the heavy metals were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS), (Perkin Elmer, Aanalyst 200), after acid digestion with aqua regia. The total PAHs and heavy metals concentrations were investigated to be higher in the 10 cm grilling height than in the 20 cm grilling height.

Keywords: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Heavy metals, grilling heights, HPLC and AAS. 

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