LAUSR

ABSTRACT The contents of 17 elements in thirteen strawberry cultivars grown in the five districts of Southern Serbia were determined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The most abundant elements are K (875–1148 mg · kg−1 fresh weight), P (307–664 mg · kg−1 fresh weight), Ca (192–256 mg · kg−1 fresh weight), and Mg (111–189 mg · kg−1 fresh weight) in all samples. Strawberries were also found to be a good source of Sr (8.05–18.6 mg · kg−1 fresh weight) and Fe (3.09–10.4 mg · kg−1 fresh weight). The contents of As and Cd were below the detection limit (0.0828 mg · kg−1 and 0.0205 mg · kg−1, respectively) in all strawberry samples, while the contents of Ni, Cr, and Cu were below the recommended tolerable levels proposed by Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives, and did not a pose a health risk for the consumer. The application of Duncan’s test showed significant differences between contents of analyzed elements in all strawberry cultivars. The highest mean levels of analyzed elements were detected in strawberries grown in the Toplički, Jablanički, and Pčinjski districts. The spike recovery test was used to verify the accuracy of the method, and the spike recovery was in the range 93.8–107.8%. The contents of the metals in strawberry samples were also comparable with values previously reported in the literature.