Noxious substance content of vegetables grown in urban and peri-urban areas

Abstract

Ethiopians are increasingly moving from the countryside to cities, accelerating the process of urban growth. Vegetables are a vital part of overall nutrition because they comprise carbohydrates, proteins, and minerals. Such crops however encompass comparable vital and poisonous materials in different compositions. Among the most critical components of food quality management is the heavy metal pollutants of food products. Cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, lead, and zinc are the most abundant pollutants. All of these substances are nutritionally important and required for growth. Numerous factors affect heavy metal absorption and biomagnification in vegetables, including weather, degree of contamination in soil conditions, and extent of the crops produce. Heavy metal contamination is generally triggered by pollutants from extraction and a broad range of activities. Protracted intake of dangerous heavy metal content in meals could hinder diverse bioactive substances as well as the metabolic system of the human body. These include persistent metal accumulation in the liver, altering multiple biological pathways that result in cardiac, anxiety, kidney, and skeletal problems. Pollutants pose a huge potential hazard to people of all ages who ingest fruits and vegetables cultivated in polluted soils.