Evaluation of Aluminum in Iranian Consumed Tea

Black tea leaf is one of the most important sources of Aluminum in dietary. Therefore this research was conducted to assess the amount of Aluminum in Iranian tea infusion. To assess Aluminum in Iranian consumed tea, 27 tea samples were analyzed for Al concentration for 10 and 60 min infusion, aluminum concentration was measured with atomic absorption and the results were analyzed by SPSS.13 version. The results showed that minimum and maximum concentration of Al in tea infusion for 10 min infusion was 1.59 and 18.60 mg.L-1 respectively in this regard Baroti and Bamdad tea show the highest and lowest concentration respectively in term of Al, Also Statistical analysis with pair T-test showed that infusion time doesn,t significantly effects on aluminum leaching into infusion (P>0.05). Calculation of percentage "available" Al to the human system showed that 1 L of tea can provide 17.68 % of the daily dietary intake of Al, the percentage "available" for absorption in the intestine is only 8.49 % for overall mean Al concentration. Therefore based on our results, tea consumption in medium values cannot cause toxic effects on human. Although it is necessary to note that tea consumption might be toxic because of effects on people with absorption or secretion problems.