Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Technologia Alimentaria

Background. Metal contamination of food is virtually unavoidable, the only possible option is trying to minimize the amount of metals ingested. The purpose of these investigations was to determine the amounts of some essential macroelements and microelements and also the amounts of harmful metals in the selected ostrich muscles. The secondary purpose was to assess to what extent ostrich meat can be a source of the se- lected micro- and macroelements.
Material and methods. The research material was obtained from ostrich meat from the Kołczewo ostrich farm in Poland. For the mercury determination, material was mineralized with mixture of HNO₃ and HClO₄ and the content was determined by CV-AAS. In case of other metals, the study material was mineralized with concentrated HNO₃  in a microwave oven. The contents of Pb and Cd were determined by GF-AAS and other metals by ICP-MS. Statistical analyses were also applied on the obtained data.
Results. Elements, with regard to their average amount in meat, can be ordered in the following fashion: K > Na > Mg > Ca > Fe > Zn > Cu > Mn > Pb > Cd > Hg. Examination of the relations between the elements revealed positive correlation coefficients between potassium and sodium (r = 0.70), potassium and magne- sium (r = 0.59), and between sodium and magnesium (r = 0.46).
Conclusions. The analysis showed that, depending on the population group of people, ostrich meat can be a valuable source of zinc and iron. The amount of lead, cadmium and mercury in the muscles never exceeded the acceptable levels.