Determination Of Heavy Metals And Proximate Analysis In Some Selected Cereals

1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM 

Metals have important and wide ranging role in biochemistry, being both essential and toxic (Guengerich 2009). Deficiency of micronutrient in soils and plant is a global nutritional problem as the major food staples are highly susceptible to such deficits (Imtiaz et al. 2010) for example, essentiality of Zn in the diet and its deficiency in humans was recognized in 1963 (Prasad 2012). However among all the environmental stresses, the effect of the metal accumulation has been considered one of the most disturbing factors arising in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Azevedo et al. 2012) in addition to their essentiality for plant growth and human nutrition, some micronutrients may also be toxic to animals, including humans, at high concentrations (Wang et al 2008). For example, Cu or Zn. An important component of seed quality is its chemical composition, including the concentration of micronutrients such as Fe, Zn, and Cu (Waters and Sankaran 2011). Clearly, plants are the first step of a metal’s pathway from the soil to heterotrophic organisms such as animals and humans, so the micronutrient content in their edible parts makes a major contribution to human intake. Zhao and McGrath (2009) suggested that micronutrient in humans and environmental contamination with heavy metals or metalloids are both global and challenging problems that require concerted efforts from researchers in multiple disciplines, including plant biology, plant breeding as well as biotechnology, nutrition and environmental sciences, such as soil fertility and chemistry. 

In this review, can we continue with the intake of cereals? Or is it still possible to provide an overview of data regarding micronutrients concentration in the grain of some important cereals published in the last two decades, as well as the prevailing opinions on their plant-driven entry into the food chain. 

1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

The aim of this study is to characterize some cereals for their level of some extracted heavy metal contamination.

 The specific objectives:

• To check for the level of extracted heavy metals in the selected cereals

• To determine the proximate composition of the cereals

• To compare the levels of heavy metals in different selected cereals

1.3 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

 The study is limited to availability of very dried cereals in the market due to rain because is rainy season at the time of the research