摘要：Nine kinds of cereals totaling 42 samples, 8 kinds of nuts and seeds totaling 24 samples, 3 kinds of pulses totaling 19 samples, and 7 kinds of spices totaling 19 samples were collected and analyzed regarding nickel and other heavy metals. 1) The average content of nickel was within the range of 0.04 (barley)-1.92ppm (buckwheat) in cereals, 0.16 (pistachionuts)-6.74ppm (cashew nuts) in nuts and seeds, and 1.20 (adzuki beans)-3.23ppm (kidney beans: non-white) in pulses, and 0.42 (red pepper)-4.43ppm (fennel) in spices, and hemp seed also containing nickel above 3ppm on the average. 2) The average content of iron ranged of 11.5 (Japanese barnyard millet)-39.8ppm (job's tear) in cereals, 26.5 (ginkgo nuts)-383.2ppm (poppy seed) in nuts and seeds, 76.9 (adzuki beans)-131.7ppm (cowpeas) in pulses, and 62.9 (fennel)-281.1ppm (Japanese pepper) in spices. That of copper was 1.68 (corn)-4.92ppm (foxtail millet) in cereals, 3.52 (ginkgo nuts)-23.7ppm (cashew nuts) in nuts and seeds, 5.07 (kidney beans: non-white)-6.94ppm (cowpeas) in pulses, and 4.89 (lilies)-10.1ppm (pepper) in spices. 3) Lead was not detected from most samples except for gardenia nuts and Japanese pepper, and a few types of rice, barley, buckwheat and cashew nuts, of which one kind of rice contained 1.6ppm and the others contained only 0.1-0.5ppm. However, no samples had any arsenic. 4) Thus, the contents of nickel, iron and copper in cereals, rich in carbohydrates, mainly starch, were lower than those in nuts and seeds, pulses and spices, but much higher than those in edible oils and fats.
