Boron concentrations in selected foods from borate-producing regions in Turkey

Abstract

As part of a large-scale programme to investigate the health effects of exposure to borate minerals in Turkey, boron concentrations in vegetables, fruits and some other foods were determined. From all borate-producing regions of the country, 22 species of fruit, 17 species of vegetable, 12 species of cereal, legume and oilseed, three species of herbs and six types of other food were collected in 1999 and analysed for boron concentrations using the Azomethine H method. The results were compared with 37 types of food collected from areas well distant from the borate-producing areas. The total number of samples evaluated was 420. Pistachio (67.0 mg kg-1) had the highest concentration of boron, followed by grape leaf (60.48 mg kg-1), sour cherry (57.03 mg kg-1), quince (38.78 mg kg-1), peach (34.49 mg kg-1), grape (20.70 mg kg-1), green beans (19.49 mg kg-1), unripe peach (18.92 mg kg-1) and parsley (10.24 mg kg-1) from the borate-producing regions. A large number of foods contained boron at higher concentrations than those reported in the literature, most probably due to the high boron content of these Turkish soils. According to the results of t-tests, the area itself does not have a significant effect (p > 0.05) on boron concentration in all foods evaluated so far. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry.