Abstract

DETERMINATION OF TRACE AMOUNT OF CU (II) IN SOIL AND VEGETABLE (TOMATO, CABBAGE AND SPINACH) SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM KATHMANDU USING HETEROCYCLIC THIOSEMICARBAZONE

*Surendra Prasad Singh, Ph. D.

Abstract

Copper is an essential trace element that is vital to the health of all living things and is essential to the proper functioning of organs and metabolic processes. While iron and zinc have long been known as metal ions that are important for life, it is clear that Cu is also a critical metal in biology. Given that Cu is also a potentially dangerous toxin exploited by immune cells and that Cu dysregulation causes human disease, the homeostasis of this metal ion must be under exquisite regulatory control. Many questions remain to be deciphered with respect to Cu’s role in biology, including an articulation of the entire constellation of Cu-dependent processes, how hosts and microbes interact with respect to Cu, how cells and organs distribute and communicate their Cu status, and precisely how Cu dysregulation contributes to human disease. With the evolution of single-cell eukaryotes came the new challenge of deliverying Cu to an expanding array of metalloproteins located within organelles such as mitochondria, chloroplasts, and the secretory compartments. Furthermore, with the subsequent appearance of multicellular organisms came the requirement to regulate Cu allocations to specific tissues according to varying metabolic needs. Thus, Cu homeostasis became a more complex and tightly controlled process at both an intracellular and intercellular level. Thus Trace amount of Copper has determined by spectrophotometric technique using 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthal, as a new spectrophotometric reagent. 1- (2pyridylazo)-2-naphthal reacts in highly acidic solution at pH 2.45 to 2.55 with Copper to give a pink chelate which has an absorption maximum at 550 nm. The method has high precision and accuracy.

Keywords: Spectrophotometry, 2-Acetylpyridine thiosemicarbazone (2-APT), 3-Acetylpyridine thiosemicarbazone (3-APT), Soil, Vegetables, Kathmandu, Nepal.