Assessment of Potential Nitrite Safety Risk of Leafy Vegetables after Domestic Cooking
Open accessAbstract
Improper cultivation can easily cause excessive nitrate accumulation in leafy vegetables, and the cooking processes used to prepare them can upset their nitrate/antioxidant balance, affecting their potential nitrite safety risk (PNSR). We investigated the impacts stir-frying, steaming, microwaving, and boiling on the nitrate, nitrite, and antioxidant capacity in water spinach and cabbage, and observed the impacts of storage duration on the PNSR. The antioxidant/in vivo nitrite ratio (A/N) was used to evaluate the nitrite risks in the cooked vegetables. Boiling achieved the highest A/N ratio (1.57) for water spinach, reducing the nitrate content by 25% without significantly affecting the antioxidant capacity. Stir-frying achieved the highest A/N ratio (6.55) for cabbage, increasing the antioxidant capacity by 140% without significantly affecting the nitrate content. Furthermore, it was found that the storage periods for boiled water spinach and stir-fried cabbage should not exceed 12 h and 24 h, respectively. Appropriate cooking methods and limited storage times are thus required for leafy vegetable to prevent adverse health effects.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Whole plant foods provide protective co-nutrients, whereas processed meats lack these factors and introduce additional risks such as sodium, saturated fat, and haem iron.
“whole plant foods provide protective co-nutrients, whereas processed meats lack these factors and introduce additional risks such as sodium, saturated fat, and haem iron [281,282,283].”
From Dietary Nitrate-Rich Vegetables as Natural Modulators of Health: Mechanisms and Benefits in Ageing Populations (2026) · cites this paper as [281]
The Introduction states that leafy vegetables contain antioxidants that can eliminate nitrites and inhibit N-nitrosamine formation, supporting the protective co-nutrients portion for leafy vegetables. The paper does not address whether processed meats lack those factors or pose additional risks from sodium, saturated fat, and haem iron. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe health impact of nitrate intake depends on the food matrix.
“the health impact of nitrate intake depends on the food matrix”
From Dietary Nitrate-Rich Vegetables as Natural Modulators of Health: Mechanisms and Benefits in Ageing Populations (2026) · cites this paper as [281]
The Introduction says the potential nitrite safety risk in leafy vegetables depends on the balance between antioxidants and nitrate. This supports the idea that other components of a food affect nitrate-related risk, but the paper addresses potential nitrite risk in leafy vegetables, not the overall health impact of nitrate intake across food matrices. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP) as a Measure of “Antioxidant Power”: The FRAP Assay
Benzie, I. F. F., & Strain, J. (1996) · Analytical Biochemistry · doi:10.1006/abio.1996.0292 · Cited by 23,027 · see citing works
Thaipong, K., Boonprakob, U., Crosby, K. M., Cisneros‐Zevallos, L., & Byrne, D. (2006) · Journal of Food Composition and Analysis · doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2006.01.003 · Cited by 3,649 · see citing works
Türkmen, N., Sarı, F., & Velioğlu, Y. S. (2005) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2004.12.038 · Cited by 892 · see citing works
Zhang, D., & Hamauzu, Y. (2004) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2004.01.065 · Cited by 713 · see citing works
Miglio, C., Chiavaro, E., Visconti, A., Fogliano, V., & Pellegrini, N. (2007) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · doi:10.1021/jf072304b · Cited by 573 · see citing works
Houben, K., Jolie, R. P., Fraeye, I., Loey, A. M. V., & Hendrickx, M. (2011) · Carbohydrate Research · doi:10.1016/j.carres.2011.04.014 · Cited by 342 · see citing works
Nitrate in fruits and vegetables
Colla, G., Kim, H., Kyriacou, M. C., & Rouphael, Y. (2018) · Scientia Horticulturae · doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2018.04.016 · Cited by 330 · see citing works
Faller, A. L. K., & Fialho, E. (2008) · Food Research International · doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2008.10.009 · Cited by 309 · see citing works
Nitrate and nitrite in the diet: How to assess their benefit and risk for human health
Habermeyer, M., Roth, A., Guth, S., Diel, P. R., Engel, K., Epe, B., Fürst, P., Heinz, V., Humpf, H., Joost, H., et al. (2014) · Molecular Nutrition & Food Research · doi:10.1002/mnfr.201400286 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Mazzeo, T., N’Dri, D. Y., Chiavaro, E., Visconti, A., Fogliano, V., & Pellegrini, N. (2011) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.03.070 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
The effect of cooking on Brassica vegetables
Wachtel-Galor, S., Wong, K. W., & Benzie, I. F. F. (2008) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.02.056 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Evaluation of nitrate and nitrite contents in pickled fruit and vegetable products
Ding, Z., Johanningsmeier, S. D., Price, R., Reynolds, R., Truong, V., Payton, S. C., & Breidt, F. (2018) · Food Control · doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2018.03.005 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Ramírez-Anaya, J. D. P., Samaniego‐Sánchez, C., Castañeda-Saucedo, M. C., Villalón‐Mir, M., & de la Serrana, H. L.-G. (2015) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.04.124 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Nitrate-N determination in leafy vegetables: Study of the effects of cooking and freezing
Prasad, S., & Chetty, A. A. (2007) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.06.005 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Chung, J.-C., Chou, S. ‐., & Hwang, D.-F. (2004) · Food Additives & Contaminants · doi:10.1080/02652030410001668763 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Pérez-Burillo, S., Rufián‐Henares, J. Á., & Pastoriza, S. (2018) · Food Research International · doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2018.12.007 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Effects of some processing methods on nitrate and nitrite changes in cruciferous vegetables
Leszczyńska, T., Filipiak‐Florkiewicz, A., Cieśłik, E., Sikora, E., & Pisulewski, P. M. (2009) · Journal of Food Composition and Analysis · doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2008.10.025 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Martı́nez, S., Armesto, J., Gómez‐Limia, L., & Carballo, J. (2019) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.126065 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Gu, Z., Liu, Y., Zou, G., Zhang, Q., Lu, R., Yan, H., Cao, L., Liu, T., & Ruan, R. R. (2021) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124846 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Self-citationSun, J., He, X.-M., Zhao, M.-M., Li, L., Li, C., & Dong, Y. (2014) · Molecules · doi:10.3390/molecules190913147 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Nitrate and nitrite levels in fresh and frozen broccoli. Effect of freezing and cooking
Huarte-Mendicoa, J. C., Astiasarán, I., & Bello, J. (1997) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/s0308-8146(96)00193-8 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Kyriacou, M. C., Soteriou, G. A., Colla, G., & Rouphael, Y. (2019) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.02.001 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Nitrates, nitrites, and oxalates in products of spinach and New Zealand spinach
Jaworska, G. (2004) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2004.09.035 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
The voltammetric behaviour of solid 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) microparticles
Zhuang, Q., Scholz, F., & Pragst, F. (1999) · Electrochemistry Communications · doi:10.1016/s1388-2481(99)00086-7 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Effects of different cooking techniques on bioactive contents of leafy vegetables
Mehmood, A., & Zeb, A. (2020) · International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science · doi:10.1016/j.ijgfs.2020.100246 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Kmiecik, W., Lisiewska, Z., & Słupski, J. (2003) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2003.08.015 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Zhang, Z., Liu, X., Zhang, X., Liu, J., Hao, Y., Yang, X., & Wang, Y. (2011) · Archives of Pharmacal Research · doi:10.1007/s12272-011-0514-4 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Self-citationChetty, A. A., & Prasad, S. (2009) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.03.006 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Zeb, A., & Nisar, P. (2017) · Frontiers in Chemistry · doi:10.3389/fchem.2017.00019 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Prabhu, S., & Barrett, D. M. (2009) · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture · doi:10.1002/jsfa.3644 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Kim, D., Shin, G., Lee, Y., Lee, J. S., Cho, J., Baik, S.-O., & Lee, O. (2013) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.11.034 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Food safety concerns in urban aquaponic production: Nitrate contents in leafy vegetables
Urrestarazu, L. P., Lobillo-Eguíba, J., Cañero, R. F., & Fernández-Cabanás, V. M. (2019) · Urban forestry & urban greening · doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126431 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Niu, P., Wang, F., Yuan, K., Li, X., Yang, X., & Guo, Y. (2021) · Food Control · doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2021.108387 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
León, V. M., & Luzardo, O. P. (2020) · Food and Chemical Toxicology · doi:10.1016/j.fct.2020.111812 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
EFFECT OF FOOD PROCESSING METHODS ON THE BIOACTIVE COMPOUND OF CAULIFLOWER
Ali, A. (2015) · Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research · doi:10.21608/ejar.2015.152818 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
THE EFFECTS OF COOKING METHODS ON ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND PHENOL CONTENT IN VEGETABLES
Mirzaei, A., Delaviz, H., & Mohammadi, H. (2014) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Manthong, N., Wilairat, P., Nacapricha, D., & Chaneam, S. (2019) · Analytical Sciences · doi:10.2116/analsci.18p512 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
New triploids late-maturing mandarins as a rich source of antioxidant compounds
Sdiri, S., Cuenca, J., Navarro, P., Salvador, A., & Bermejo, A. (2019) · European Food Research and Technology · doi:10.1007/s00217-019-03407-9 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Excellent nutritional value in fruits of three guava cultivars in Taiwan
Hwang, S.-G., Li, Y., & Lin, H.-L. (2017) · Acta Horticulturae · doi:10.17660/actahortic.2017.1166.30 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Lu, X., Ma, S., Li, S., CongCong, Z., Bao, J., & Zhang, X. (2020) · 食品科学 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [31]Bellail A.A. Shaltout O.E. Youssef M.M. Gamal A.M.A.E. Effect of Home-Cooking Methods on Phenolic Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Sweetpotato (Ipomoea Batatas (L.) Lam.) Cultivars Grown in Egypt Food Nutr. Sci. 2012 3 490 499 10.4236/fns.2012.34069 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Evaluation of The Antioxidant Capacity of Food Products: Methods, Applications and Limitations
Sadowska‐Bartosz, I., & Bartosz, G. (2022) · Processes · doi:10.3390/pr10102031 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Tang, T., Zhang, M., Law, C. L., & MUJUMDAR, A. S. (2023) · Food Research International · doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112984 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Leafy Vegetable Nitrite and Nitrate Content: Potential Health Effects
Luetic, S., Knezović, Z., Jurcic, K., Majić, Z., Tripkovic, K., & Sutlović, D. (2023) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods12081655 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Zhao, X., Peng, J., Zhang, L., Yang, X., Qiu, Y., Cai, C., Hu, J., Huang, T., Liang, Y., Li, Z., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1427471 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Zhou, J., Zhou, X., Lin, X., Xia, Y., Zhao, L. H., Huang, K., Xiong, X., & Yu, H. (2024) · Sensors and Actuators B Chemical · doi:10.1016/j.snb.2024.136045 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Wu, S., Zhang, Y., Chen, B., Wang, X., Qiao, Y., & Chen, J. (2024) · Food Chemistry X · doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101549 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationNitrates and Nitrites in Vegetables and the Health Risk
Dodocioiu, A. M., Buzatu, G.-D., & Botu, M. (2025) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods14173037 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Multifaceted role of nitric oxide in vascular dementia
Yang, Y., Ma, K., Li, S., & Xiong, T. (2025) · Medical Gas Research · doi:10.4103/mgr.medgasres-d-24-00158 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Antonious, G. F., Turley, E. T., Gyawali, B., & Freeman, A. C. (2023) · Agriculture · doi:10.3390/agriculture13010137 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Luetic, S., Knezović, Z., Jurcic, K., Perasovic, M. L., & Sutlović, D. (2025) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms26073018 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Wu, S., Chen, B., Wang, X., Wang, C., Hu, Y., Cai, X., Zhang, Y., & Qiao, Y. (2025) · Food Chemistry X · doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2025.102478 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationPossible causes of high nitrite levels in some processed leafy vegetables
Berardi, G., Taranto, A. D., Conversa, G., Elia, A., Basanisi, M. G., Bella, G. L., Nobili, G., Salandra, G. L., Vita, V., & Iammarino, M. (2024) · Journal of Food Composition and Analysis · doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2024.106542 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Pan, G., Geng, S., Wang, L., Xing, J., Fan, G., Gao, Y., Lu, X., & Zhang, Z. (2025) · Plants · doi:10.3390/plants14040524 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Rajabi, A., Bairami, S., & Shahryari, A. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-09576-w · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Inhibition of nitrate accumulation in vegetable by Chroococcus sp. and related mechanisms
Wang, M., Liu, Y., Cai, Y. Z., Song, Y., Yin, Y., & Gong, L. (2024) · Rhizosphere · doi:10.1016/j.rhisph.2024.100934 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationBorbi, M., Weatherspoon, L., Wiesinger, J. A., Jackson, J. C., Glahn, R. E., Bourquin, L. D., & Dolan, K. D. (2024) · Journal of Food Science · doi:10.1111/1750-3841.17569 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Kurhaluk, N., Kołodziejska, R., Buyun, L., Kamiński, P., & Tkaczenko, H. (2026) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms27083461 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Therefore, the health impact of nitrate intake depends on the food matrix: whole plant foods provide protective co-nutrients, whereas processed meats lack these factors and introduce additional risks such as sodium, saturated fat, and haem iron [281–283].”
Song, J., Dou, X., Fang, M., Yu, L., Ma, F., Wang, X., Wang, D., Xu, B., Li, P., & Zhang, L. (2025) · International Journal of Food Science & Technology · doi:10.1093/ijfood/vvaf081 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Boosting nutritional quality of Urtica dioica L. to resist climate change
Opačić, N., Radman, S., Dujmović, M., Uher, S. F., Benko, B., Toth, N., Petek, M., Čoga, L., Voća, S., & Žlabur, J. Š. (2024) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1331327 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Mahanti, N. K., Chakraborty, S. K., & Pathare, P. B. (2024) · Journal of Food Quality · doi:10.1155/2024/5521957 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Dietary exposure assessment of nitrate in Shandong population in China
Huang, B., Song, J., Ding, H. G., & Jiang, D. (2025) · Food Additives & Contaminants Part A · doi:10.1080/19440049.2025.2581165 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Yin, Q., Xu, H., Peng, H. D., Xing, R., Zhang, S. K., Yin, T. T., Yang, X. Y., Batbatan, C. G., & Yao, P. (2026) · Acta Alimentaria · doi:10.1556/066.2025.00394 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Possible High Levels of Nitrite in Processed Leafy Vegetables: What Could Be the Cause?Preprint
Berardi, G., Taranto, A. D., Conversa, G., Elia, A., Basanisi, M. G., Bella, G. L., Nobili, G., Salandra, G. L., Vita, V., & Iammarino, M. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4745669
P22-10 Nitrite and nitrate content in leafy vegetables
Luetic, S., Knezović, Z., Jurcic, K., Majić, Z., Tripkovic, K., & Sutlović, D. (2024) · Toxicology Letters · doi:10.1016/j.toxlet.2024.07.807
Assessment of Nitrite Levels in Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs from Different Agricultural Sources
Stoian, C., Bounegru, A. V., Filimon, V., & Butan, S. (2026) · Journal of Agroalimentary Process and Technologies. · doi:10.59463/japt2026.2.5
- Authors
- Wu, S., Liu, Y., Cui, X., Zhang, Q., Wang, Y., Cao, L., Luo, X., Xiong, J., & Ruan, R.
- Affiliations
- Nanchang University (CN)
- Agricultural Ecology and Resources Protection Station of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang 330046, China
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Liu, Yuhuan
- Venue
- Foods
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2021-12-01
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2953
- ISSN
- 2304-8158 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8701323
- OpenAlex
- W3215430615
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 2.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Foods (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (21878139, 21878237, 22166026)
- Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology (20181BBF60026)
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province, China (2020BAB203012)
- the research program of State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang university (SKLF-ZZB-201915)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food and Agricultural Sciences
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Potato Plant Research
- Keywords
- leafy vegetables, nitrate, antioxidant capacity, cooking methods, water spinach, cabbage, stir-frying, boiling, storage time, food safety
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
