Assessment of Nickel Contamination in Vanaspati Ghee from Hyderabad Pakistan and its Food Safety Implication
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55627/agrivet.005.01.01894Keywords:
Nickel, Vanaspati ghee, Flame atomic absorption spectrometry, Food safetyAbstract
Vanaspati ghee is widely consumed in many South Asian countries. It is produced through the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil using nickel catalysts. Despite many purification steps, residual nickel remains in the vanaspati ghee and poses health hazards. This study aimed to determine the nickel in nine commercially available vanaspati ghee samples collected from Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan and to compare against the PSQCA recommended limit. Nickel in the ghee was determined by using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) after the wet acid digestion. The method was found to be linear (R2=0.9997) with a limit of detection (0.008 µg/g) and limit of quantification (0.025 µg/g). Results showed that branded commercial ghee contained the nickel in the range of 0.075–0.168 µg/g while locally produced and blended ghee contained nickel in the range of 0.167–0.651 µg/g. One blended sample marginally exceeded the PSQCA recommended limit of 0.2 µg/g. These findings highlight the need for regulatory monitoring of residual nickel in vanaspati ghee.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Zahid H Shar, Muhammad Younas Talpur, Ali Bahar Shahani, Muhammad Kashif Channa, Muhammad Ashraf Bajeer
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