COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MINERALS, TRACE METAL AND SUGAR CONTENT IN PROCESSED FRUIT JUICES

There has been an increasing trend in the production and consumption of local and imported fruit juices in Nigeria due to its affordability, characteristic taste, and thirst quenching potential. However, the high demand may compromise the quality of production with possible contamination of heavy metals which have shown to cause intoxication and death in humans. The presence of trace elements in 45 fruit juice samples in cans, paper pack and plastics commercially available in Kogi State Nigeria were evaluated using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotoscopy (AAS). The fruit juices were also screened for the presence of sugar, phosphate and alcohol as well as hydrogen ion (pH). The values ranged for Zn- 0.82-0.20 ppm, Fe- 1.55-0.47 ppm, Cu- 0.06-0.02 ppm, Mn- 1.16-0.02 ppm, Ni- 0.09-0.01 ppm, Na- 140.00-75.00 ppm & K- 500.00-45.00 ppm. Pb and Cd in majority of the samples were below detection limit. The result shows that iron and nickel were above standard limits of trace metals in fruit juice while other metals (Zn, Cu, Mn Na and K) were below the standard guideline of elements in drinking water when compared to WHO and NIS guidelines for drinking water and the daily recommended essential elements for human. This study also showed the presence of sugar which ranged from 5.9 to 19.3%, phosphate, alcohol and hydrogen ion (pH) ranging from 2 to 4.