Table Info

Table 4.

Levels of non-essential and toxic elements (mg/kg) in foods consumed by vegetarian populations

Food group	Food item	As			Cd			Cr			Co			Li			Sr
Food group	Food item	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	Min	Max	Mean ± SD
Grains and grain-based products	Buckwheat	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	0.0137	0.027	0.0248 ± 0.0004	0.0409	0.142	0.091 ± 0.002	0.0106	0.059	0.059 ± 0.002	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	0.187	2.9	0.39 ± 0.01
	Bulgur wheat			0.0124 ± 0.0001			0.0137 ± 0.0003			0.142 ± 0.005			0.0113 ± 0.0004			0.026 ± 0.001			2.9 ± 0.1
	Spelt flour			< LOQ (0.010)			0.027 ± 0.001			0.076 ± 0.005			0.0106 ± 0.0003			< LOQ (0.010)			1.33 ± 0.03
	Millet			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.0409 ± 0.0004			0.053 ± 0.002			< LOQ (0.010)			0.187 ± 0.007
Dairy products	Fresh semi-fat cow’s cheese	0.0148	0.021	0.0148 ± 0.0009	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	0.023	0.119	0.11 ± 0.01	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	0.457	2.5	1.24 ± 0.09
	Fresh low-fat cow’s cheese			0.0159 ± 0.0003			< LOQ (0.010)			0.063 ± 0.003			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			1.35 ± 0.02
	Fresh goat cheese			0.021 ± 0.002			< LOQ(0.010)			0.119 ± 0.008			< LOQ (0.010)			0.012 ± 0.001			2.5 ± 0.1
	Unsweetened natural Greek yogurt			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.023 ± 0.002			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.457 ± 0.002
	Greek yogurt with fruit			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.0285 ± 0.0005			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.62 ± 0.04
Products for non-standard diets	Miso	0.0105	0.069	0.069 ± 0.003	0.0173	0.041	0.012 ± 0.001	0.124	0.294	0.294 ± 0.001	0.0151	0.204	0.0204 ± 0.0004	0.0127	0.038	0.038 ± 0.001	0.79	6.85	5.0 ± 0.2
	Textured soy protein			0.0105 ± 0.0004			0.041 ± 0.001			0.285 ± 0.009			0.204 ± 0.003			0.0127 ± 0.0001			6.8 ± 0.3
	Soy yogurt			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.020)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.0149 ± 0.0005			0.79 ± 0.05
	Soy sausage			0.028 ± 0.002			< LOQ (0.010)			0.124 ± 0.009			0.0151 ± 0.0003			0.036 ± 0.001			3.08 ± 0.02
	Seitan			0.0191 ± 0.0009			0.0173 ± 0.0002			0.125 ± 0.006			< LOQ (0.010)			0.0251 ± 0.0002			1.27 ± 0.02
	Soy dessert			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.176 ± 0.005			0.031 ± 0.001			0.01746 ± 0.00003			1.02 ± 0.01
Pulses. dried fruits and oilseeds	Chia seeds	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	0.056	0.35	0.31 ± 0.03	0.054	0.94	0.28 ± 0.01	0.017	0.027	0.022 ± 0.001	0.98	198	43 ± 2
	Brazil nuts			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.27 ± 0.03			0.94 ± 0.03			< LOQ (0.010)			198 ± 8
	Pumpkin seeds			0.0183 ± 0.0005			< LOQ (0.010)			0.31 ± 0.02			0.054 ± 0.002			0.018 ± 0.001			7.4 ± 0.3
	Sunflower seeds			< LOQ (0.010)			0.29 ± 0.01			0.22 ± 0.02			0.088 ± 0.004			< LOQ (0.010)			3.1 ± 0.1
	Red lentils (dry)			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.056 ± 0.002			0.093 ± 0.003			0.017 ± 0.001			0.98 ± 0.04
	White bean			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.114 ± 0.005			0.213 ± 0.003			< LOQ (0.010)			9.1 ± 0.3
	Catarino bean			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.35 ± 0.03			0.212 ± 0.008			< LOQ (0.010)			6.7 ± 0.3
	Red bean			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.291 ± 0.009			0.179 ± 0.009			0.027 ± 0.002			6.8 ± 0.4
	Black-eyed pea			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.15 ± 0.01			0.115 ± 0.006			< LOQ (0.010)			3.4 ± 0.1
	Butter bean			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.086 ± 0.003			0.26 ± 0.02			0.018 ± 0.001			8.4 ± 0.6
	Black bean			< LOQ (0.010)			< LOQ (0.010)			0.23 ± 0.02			0.192 ± 0.005			< LOQ (0.010)			4.6 ± 0.4
Fruiting vegetables	Goji berries	-	-	0.019 ± 0.001	-	-	0.037 ± 0.002	-	-	0.105 ± 0.004	-	-	0.047 ± 0.003	-	-	1.10 ± 0.03	-	-	4.5 ± 0.3

LOQ: limit of quantification

Declarations

Acknowledgments

Strategic projects UIDB/04292/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04292/2020) and UIDP/04292/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/04292/2020) granted to MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, and the project LA/P/0069/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0069/2020) granted to the Associate Laboratory ARNET—Aquatic Research Network.

The authors also thank the colleagues of INSA’s Department of Food and Nutrition, Ana Serôdio, Andreia Lopes, Elsa Vasco, and Maria Graça Dias, for defining the sample list and executing the collection of samples.

Author contributions

SG, AR, ID, MV: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. IC: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Supervision. All authors read and approved the submitted version.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent to publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

Data from the present manuscript will be made available upon request.

Funding

Not applicable.

Copyright

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