Evaluation of nitrate and nitrite accumulation in vegetables exposed on ShahreKord's markets

In the last years, the presence of nitrates and nitrites in vegetables has been a public health concern. This study was conducted to examine the accumulation of nitrate and nitrite in vegetables of Shahre-Kord retails. For this purpose, a total of 222 fresh vegetables samples were collected in winter 2011 and summer 2012 and were analyzed for the accumulation of nitrate and nitrite. Results showed a vast deviation between the mean concentrations of nitrate. In other words, the nitrate accumulation for mint was 310.9 mg/kg fresh weight (FW) and for savory was estimated at 3309.1 mg/kg FW. Nitrate accumulation in more than 85% of the vegetable samples was below the approved limit of 2500 mg/kg FW; meanwhile in savory it was higher than 3000 mg/kg FW. Moreover it was revealed that in comparison with nitrate, the mean value of nitrite accumulation was remarkably low (below 1.65 mg/kg FW). According to the results, the nitrate accumulation was significantly (P