Abstract: Cleome gynandra is an herbal plant available growing around solid waste landfills in Lomé city and suburbs. Its leaves and tender young stalks were highly used in various traditional culinary in Togo and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study is to assess the potential health risk of heavy metals content in fresh, dried and cooked leaves and stalks of Cleome gynandra collected around waste solid landfill. The heavy metals concentration in edible parts of C. gynandra were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results indicate that the fresh leaves contained higher heavy metal concentration than the fresh stalks. The sun drying and cooking process reduced sensitively the heavy metal contents. The recorded values of mercury (<0.001 - 0.029 μg g-1), arsenic (<0.001 - 0.055 μg g-1) and nickel (0.02 – 0.19 μg g-1) in analyzed samples were lower than the permissible limit values set by FAO/WHO. However, the concentration of cadmium (0.11 - 0.45 μg g-1) and lead (0.22 – 0.65 μg g-1) in leaves were higher than limit references. As plant leaves accumulate more heavy metal, it is recommended to don't consume the leaves of Cleome gynandra grow around solid waste landfills.
Keywords: Cleome gynandra, leaves, stalks, heavy metal content, landfill.
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