Analyses of the Elemental Content of three Brands of Natron in Four Local Government Areas in Kebbi State

Abstract

Natron is the second most consumed salt in Nigeria. It is used as a food additive to cook beans, maize, and other palatable foods. Several studies have investigated the elemental content in this salt in Nigeria. However, there is paucity of information on the elemental content of this widely consumed salt in Kebbi State. Thus, this study is focused on the analyses of elemental content in Natron in sold in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kebbi State. Three brands of Natron were collected from markets in Birnin Kebbi, Jega, Kalgo and Bunza local governments. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) was used to analyse the elemental content. Furthermore, the elemental content values were collated for the samples of the different brands of Natron. The sodium content of the Kanwa Jarirai brand in Jega had the lowest sodium content of while the Balma brand in Bunza had the highest sodium content of . All three Natron brands investigated in the four LGAs exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limit for potassium, iron and, manganese levels. All the brands of Natron did not satisfy the adult daily calcium intake except for the Kanwa Jarirai from Jega with . Moreso, all the three brands in the selected four LGAs satisfied the sodium permissible WHO limits. The iron, manganese, and potassium WHO permissible limits were not met. In addition, the Natron from the four LGAs did not satisfy the adult daily intake of calcium except the Kanwa Jarirai from Jega. Consumers will need to be cautious of the usage of the analysed Natrons as they contained high levels of sodium which might not be beneficial to cardiovascular health.