Iranian Journal of

Background and Objective: Nitrate is one of the most important factors in determining the quality of vegetables. Today, due to the excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers to accelerate vegetative growth, many vegetables have a high percentage of nitrates in human diet. The purpose of this study was to investigate the concentration of nitrate in four vegetable species cultivated in Poldokhtar and Khorramabad cities.
Materials and Methods: In this research, the nitrate content of four vegetables including Iranian leek, Basil, Mint and Radish (tuber and leaves) cultivated from olericulture field on Khorramabad and Poledokhtare were measured. A 2kg edible portion of vegetables was randomly collected for each species in triplicate and carried out to the laboratory. The nitrate content was measured according to the instructions of the Institute of Water and Soil of Iran. For this purpose, after preparation of the samples, a spectrophotometer was used to measure absorption at 580 nm. The nitrate content in different vegetables was estimated using a standard curve.
Results: The nitrate mean concentration of the studied vegetables from khorramabad city was 27017 mg/kg for Radish tuber, 9500 mg/kg for Basil, 8408 mg/kg for Iranian leek, 98231 mg/kg for Radish leaves and 5450 mg/kg for Mint. The values for the samples taken from Poledokhtare city were 12933 mg/kg for Radish tuber, 9063 mg/kg for Basil, 6708 mg/kg for Iranian leek, 6296 mg/kg for Radish leaves and 5454 mg/kg for Mint (5454 mg/kg). The values were all higher than the recommended doses for consumption. In control field, the nitrate mean concentration were 1586, 1134, 906, 794 and 662 mg/kg for Radish tuber, Basil, Iranian leek, Radish leaves and Mint, respectively. The values were within the range of recommended doses.
Conclusion: The amounts of nitrate measured in 100g of green tissue in Radish tuber, Basil, Iranian leek, Radish leaf and Mint were 7.36, 3.37, 2.74, 2.64, and 1.98 times more than the daily allowance limit, respectively. Given the high nitrate content in the studied vegetables, it is recommended that cautious is taken for consumption of the vegetables and nitrate content of the vegetables produced in Lorestan province in different seasons should be monitored.
 

Background and Objective: Today, the presence and increase of particulate matter is one of the serious factors that threaten human health. In the meantime, trees can accumulate airborne particles by their foliage. In this study, the accumulating ability of various PM by the leaf of some tree and shrub species was evaluated in Isfahan.
Materials and Methods: 12 species of trees and shrubs were selected at 8 locations in Isfahan and the total PM, PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and PM_0.2 were measured using water and chloroform washing methods by paper filters 91, 42 μm, and Polytetra Fluorethylene filters and digital balance.
Results: The results showed that the highest and lowest mean total accumulation of total particulate matter was related to Morus nigra and Salix alba, that were 190.23 ± 23.5 and 11.9 ± 4.42 μg/cm². In addition, the trend of accumulation of total PM on the leaf surface from the highest to the lowest was: Morus nigra> Platanus orientalis> Ulmus umbraculifera> Morus alba> Acer negundo> Ailanthus altissima> Fraxinus excelsior > Nerium oleander >Robinia pseudoacacia> Cercis siliquastrum> Nerium oleander > Euonymus japonicas> Salix alba and in epicuticular Waxes, Morus nigra> Ulmus umbraculifera > Platanus orientalis > Morus alba> Ailanthus altissima> Acer negundo > Robinia pseudoacacia>Cercis siliquastrum> Fraxinus excelsior > Nerium oleander > Euonymus japonicas> Salix alba.
Conclusion: The results indicated that the ability of different tree species to absorb PM depended on the morphological, physiological and ecological characteristics of the leaf. Finally, among the different species the Morus nigra had the highest ability to capture various PM.
 

Background and Objective: Air pollution, especially the portion related to Motor vehicles, is a serious problem in many heavily polluted areas in the world. This investigation was conducted to study the effects of the air pollution on the anatomical structure of leaf in some valuable fruit-bearing trees in Traditional Qazvin gardens.
Materials and Methods: In this study, 72 leaf samples were randomly collected from the contaminated and control areas from traditional Qazvin gardens in 2018. Three leaves of each sample were selected randomly and were submerged into the fixative solution. Then the samples were sliced using a microtome after embedding in the paraffin. Staining was carried out with hematoxylin and eosin. Measurements at cellular levels were performed by Image J. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software. Comparison of the means was done by Duncan's test and the charts were drown using Excel.
Results: The thickness of the lower cuticle of the main leaf's vein was significantly increased in both plants. The leaf thickness and length of palisade parenchyma in the polluted areas were increased in Juglans regia in comparison to Pistacia vera. In addition, the resin duct's diameter of the leaves of the P. vera was significantly decreased as compared with those of the control areas.
Conclusion: The results revealed some of the negative effects of air pollution on the anatomical structure of the leaves, and on several various resistance mechanisms of them. In conclusion, the metabolism of the plants can be affected by air pollution and consequently their consumers health may be at risk.

Background and Objective: Much of the nitrate consumption by humans in the daily diet comes from vegetables. The high concentration of nitrate in edible parts of vegetables causes toxicity, anemia for children and nitrous amine production in adults. Nitrous amine may results in cancer. Samples were collected from four main vegetable markets in Kermanshah city in summer 2019 to investigate the concentrations of these compounds in edible vegetables with high consumption.
Materials and Methods: After preparation of the samples in a laboratory, the nitrate were extracted and its concentration was determined by a spectrophotometer at wavelength 410 nm.
Results: The results showed significant differences in nitrate concentrations for the vegetable samples taken from the different markets (p>0.05). The highest concentration of nitrate were observed in the leafy, tuberous, and fruit-bearing vegetables. The highest nitrate concentration among the leafy vegetables was observed in cress with an average of 2052.14 mg/kg Fresh Weight; among tuberous vegetables was potato with an average of 127.01 mg/kg Fresh Weight; and among fruit-bearing vegetables was cucumber with an average of 37.20 mg/kg Fresh Weight.
Conclusion: The nitrate concentrations for celery, and red onion at the Azadi market were higher than the permissible limit, according to the national standard. Also, the nitrate concentrations in sugar beet leave and potato at the Toopkhaneh Market and nitrate concentration in cress at all the markets were higher than the permissible limit. It is recommended that the concentration of nitrate of edible vegetables should be determined at regular time intervals as well as during different seasons.