Metal Contents in Traditional Alcoholic Rice Beers Prepared by Rabha and Sonowal Kachari Tribes of Assam, India

Abstract

Consumption of heavy metals in food is considered a health hazard. Rabhas and Sonowal Kacharis of Assam prepare their traditional alcoholic beverages for their own consumption in day-to-day life, and there is possibility that heavy metals get entry into this food item from different sources of ingredients used in the preparation. Investigation to find the presence of heavy metals in the alcoholic beverages of these two communities by using atomic absorption spectroscopy shows the concentration of eleven metals like cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, potassium, sodium, and zinc. The metal contents (mg/L) in the samples are in the range of 0.002-0.008 for cadmium, 0-0.012 for chromium, 0-0.008 for cobalt, 0.092-0.121 for copper, 1.09-1.56 for iron, 0.09-0.19 for lead, 1.67-2.53 for manganese, 0.024-0.094 for nickel, 175.8-290.8 for potassium, 9.7-25.8 for sodium, 0.639-1.678 for zinc and all these values are compared with maximum permissible limits prescribed by WHO. The estimated daily intake and target hazard quotient for each metal in different alcoholic beverage samples are also reported. This study reveals that all the samples can be marked as safe as the metal concentrations are within the permissible limits of WHO. Sticky rice beer of Pati Rabhas has highest total hazard quotient, still it can be marked as safe by comparing with WHO permissible limit and it is almost free from contamination of toxic metals like cobalt and chromium.