article · African Journal of Agriculture and Food Science
Agricultural practices and the safety of commonly consumed vegetables were evaluated across three localities in the Mezam Division of north-western Cameroon. The investigation focused on carrots, cabbages, leeks, and tomatoes, assessing their nutritional composition alongside potential chemical hazards. Nutritional analysis revealed no significant differences in proximate composition across the locations, with documented variations in moisture, carbohydrates, crude fibre, ash, protein, and vitamin C. However, laboratory testing detected levels of toxic heavy metals, specifically chromium, cadmium, and lead, that exceed the safety thresholds established by the FAO and WHO. Health risk assessment models established that the hazard index was greater than one, indicating non-carcinogenic health hazards, whilst target cancer risk calculations exceeded critical thresholds. These outcomes indicate that prolonged consumption of these locally produced crops presents both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks to the population.
Vegetables are fundamental to daily nutrition, but contaminated crops can expose populations to dangerous levels of toxic metals. Demonstrating that commonly eaten vegetables exceed international thresholds for lead, cadmium, and chromium reveals urgent food safety risks. Identifying these carcinogenic and chronic health threats enables agricultural authorities and public health bodies to intervene and protect consumer wellbeing.
The findings represent early-stage observational data that could inform food safety testing services, agricultural extension programmes, and policy interventions. Regulatory agencies and commercial farm monitoring services could use this risk data to design targeted soil remediation protocols or surveillance standards, though the abstract does not indicate any direct product development or commercialisation pathway.
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Vegetables are vital for nutrition, yet their nutritional quality and heavy metal content related to agricultural practices remain underexplored in the Mezam Division (MD), Northwest Region of Cameroon. This study aimed to identify prevalent agricultural practices related to soil amendments and pest management, and assess the carcinogenic effects of four commonly consumed vegetables: carrot (Daucus carota ssp. sativa), cabbage (Brassica oleracea), leek (Allium ampeloprasum), and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), which were grown in three localities within the MD. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather information on farmers' practices, whereas standard analytical methods were used to assess proximate composition, vitamin C content and heavy metal concentrations. Health risk assessments have investigated estimated daily intake (EDI), hazard index (HI), and target cancer risk (TCR) models. The results revealed no significant differences (P > 0.05) in proximate composition among vegetables from the different localities. The moisture content and carbohydrate content ranged from 84.032±25% to 94.750±0.23% and from 1.990±0.52% to 12.279±2.82%, respectively. The crude fibre content ranged from 1.133% to 2.685%, and the ash content ranged from 0.416±0.01% to 1.706±0.04%. The protein and vitamin C contents varied from 0.713±0.061% to 1.484±0.21% and from 5.090±0.12% to 44.900±0.06%, respectively. Chromium (0.557 to 1.318 mg/kg), cadmium (0.942 to 1.885 mg/kg), and lead (1.552 to 2.154 mg/kg) exceeded the FAO/WHO limits. HI indicated a noncarcinogenic risk greater than unity, and the TCR values surpassed the 1×10−4 threshold, suggesting that long-term consumption poses cancer risks. The results of this study underscore the need for improved agricultural practices and monitoring of heavy metal contamination in vegetables to safeguard public health in the Mezam Division.
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DOI: 10.52589/ajafs-rdqhuojb
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