Copper content of commonly consumed food in Brazil

Little is known of copper content of Brazilian food. In this paper, copper contents of several typical Brazilian foods were determined. The samples were bought in retail stores in cities of the southeast region of Brazil. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry with wet oxidation of the organic material was employed. The highest copper content was found in beef liver (6.06 mg/100 g of fresh product). Lowest copper content was found in milk and in fish fillet, with values below 0.01 mg/100 g of fresh product. Crude beans, NescauTM and whole wheat had copper contents from 0.44 to 1.04 mg/100 g of fresh food. Other foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grain products, baked products, roots and meat products had copper contents varying from 0.02 to 0.41 mg/100 g.