Variations in cadmium and nitrate co-accumulation among water spinach genotypes and implications for screening safe genotypes for human consumption / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Vegetables are important constituents of the human diet. Heavy metals and nitrate are among the major contaminants of vegetables. Consumption of vegetables and fruits with accumulated heavy metals and nitrate has the potential to damage different body organs leading to unwanted effects. Breeding vegetables with low heavy metal and nitrate contaminants is a cost-effective approach. We investigated 38 water spinach genotypes for low Cd and nitrate co-accumulation. Four genotypes, i.e. JXDY, GZQL, XGDB, and B888, were found to have low co-accumulation of Cd (<0.71 mg/kg dry weight) and nitrate (<3100 mg/kg fresh weight) in the edible parts when grown in soils with moderate contamination of both Cd (1.10 mg/kg) and nitrate (235.2 mg/kg). These genotypes should be appropriate with minimized risk to humans who consume them. The Cd levels in the edible parts of water spinach were positively correlated with the concentration of Pb or Zn, but Cd, Pb, or Zn was negatively correlated with P concentration. These results indicate that these three heavy metals may be absorbed into the plant in similar proportions or in combination, minimizing the influx to aerial parts. Increasing P fertilizer application rates appears to prevent heavy metal and nitrate translocation to shoot tissues and the edible parts of water spinach on co-contaminated soils.

Evaluation of hypolipidemic effect of citrus lemon

Herbs have been used for several cardio vascular diseases, such as congestive heart failure, hypertension, angina pectoris, atherosclerosis, arrhythmia, cerebral and venous insufficiency. Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of heart disease and stroke. Hence blood lipid levels are probably the major determinant of the development of cardiovascular disease. Citrus fruit and juices have long been considered a valuable part of a healthy and nutritious diet. It is well established that some of the nutrients in citrus promote health and provide protection against chronic disease. The present study has been specifically designed to investigate the hypolipidemic effects of citrus lemon juice in rabbits after high cholesterol diet for four weeks. The citrus lemon juice [1 ml/kg/day] revealed a significant reduction in serum cholesterol, triglycerides; low density lipoprotein levels and resulted in an increase in high density lipoprotein. These results suggest that the hypocholesterolemic effects of citrus lemon juice may be due to its antioxidant effect