Essential and Toxic Element Profiles in Selected Spices from Greater Casablanca, Morocco

Sabri, Safaa and Sabri, Chaima and Salam, Mohamed Rida and El Mellouli, Fatiha and Lafram, Asmaa and Khallouki, Hanane and Hassane, Yayé Abdou and Kabine, Mostafa (2025) Essential and Toxic Element Profiles in Selected Spices from Greater Casablanca, Morocco. World's Veterinary Journal. 863 - 881. ISSN 2322-4568

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Abstract

In Morocco, spices are an integral part of daily cuisine and serve as a vector of both nutritional and toxicological exposure. Monitoring elemental composition is essential to ensure consumer safety, animal health when used as feed additives, and compliance with international standards. The present study aimed to determine the concentrations of essential (potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and iron) and toxic (lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, and nickel) elements in commonly consumed spices in Morocco, including cinnamon, cumin, ginger, black pepper, and turmeric. A total of 162 spice samples were obtained from markets in the Greater Casablanca, Morocco. Five essential elements, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and iron, and five toxic trace metals, including lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, and nickel, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after microwave-assisted digestion. Cumin indicated the highest levels of magnesium (6.86 ± 1.61 g/kg), sodium (3.98 ± 1.59 g/kg), calcium (11.13 ± 4.53 g/kg), and iron (753.71 ± 446.07 mg/kg). Turmeric had the highest levels of potassium (25.96 ± 13.51 g/kg). Cinnamon had elevated levels of lead (2.05 mg/kg) and cadmium (0.29 mg/kg), exceeding Moroccan and European regulatory limits. Additionally, cumin indicated the highest levels of arsenic (0.45 ± 0.30 mg/kg) and nickel (4.18 ± 2.85 mg/kg) compared to other spices. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed distinct elemental patterns. The first component (PC1), driven by magnesium and sodium, clearly separated cumin due to its high macronutrient content. The second component (PC2), influenced by cadmium and lead, isolated cinnamon because of its toxic metal burden. The PC1 and PC2 accounted for 64.6 of the total variance. Turmeric and ginger formed a close cluster in the PCA plot, associated with higher levels of potassium, calcium, and nickel. Black pepper was positioned between these groups, reflecting intermediate composition. Pearson correlation analysis supported these findings, with a strong correlation between lead and cadmium, suggesting a shared contamination source. These results emphasized the nutritional and toxicological roles of spices in Moroccan diets. Regular monitoring is essential to protect public health in both animals and humans. © The Author(s) 2025. Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article�s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article�s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Food safety; Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; Spices; Toxic metal
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
Divisions:	World's Veterinary Journal (WVJ)
Page Range:	863 - 881
Journal or Publication Title:	World's Veterinary Journal
Journal Index:	Scopus
Volume:	15
Number:	4
Publisher:	Scienceline Publication
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.54203/scil.2025.wvj88
ISSN:	2322-4568
Depositing User:	Dr. Alireza Sadeghi
URI:	https://eprints.science-line.com/id/eprint/1662

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