Effects of Calcium Carbide Used as a Fruit-Ripening Agent on Fruit Toxicity

Abstract

Aims: To provide a comprehensive summary of what has been published about the effects of calcium carbide (CaC2) as a fruit-ripening agent and to determine the necessity or not to develop awareness among government agencies, policymakers, farmers, vendors, and scientists in order to best address different aspects of artificial fruit ripening issues and to provide more profitable solutions for global health preservation.
 Methodology: Scientific information about the effects of CaC2 published elsewhere was reviewed. Online databases of scientific journals which include Wiley Online Library, Science Direct, PubMed, CAS, CABI, AJOL and Google Scholar were used to select valuable studies.
 Results: Most studies have reported the hazardous potential of CaC2 as a ripening agent. Among other potential effects that were discovered through laboratory investigations are the adulteration of nutritional values of ripened fruits and direct or indirect toxicity in studied living systems such as genotoxicity and cytotoxicity to dividing cells, increase of the cellular oxidative stress, disturbance of the redox balance of the cell, estrogenic disruptions, increase of the white blood cells and Lymphocytes, alteration of hematopoiesis, alteration of sperm cells, a decrease of the fertility rate, weakness of the immune system, etc.).
 Conclusion: Overall, this review provides comprehensive information on what is known about the effects of CaC2 and showed the necessity to discourage its application as an artificial fruit ripening agent through the establishment of laws and regulations for better control of its use in most developing countries.

The Status and Trends of Food Fraud in Tamale, Ghana

“…Fruits and vegetables like banana, mango, onion, pepper and tomatoes were mentioned also by respondents as one of the foods implicated in food fraud. This finding is supported by Lawaly [17], who reported the use of calcium carbide as an agent to fasten the ripening of fruits. In this current survey, it was identified from participants that mislabeling is often employed by vendors to cheat customers and consumers when it comes to fruits and vegetables in the study area.…”

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“…14 In this study, MSG-induced obesity significantly elevated AST, ALT, ALP and non-significantly increased GGT when compared to control (P<0.05); artificially ripened fruit escalated the increased AST, ALT, ALP and GGT significantly which suggest that artificially ripened fruit could predispose to liver damage in obesity condition as CaC 2 used to induced fruit ripening has been reported to induce liver damage. 26 Furthermore naturally ripened fruit was able to significantly (P<0.05) counteract the impact of MSG-induced obesity on hepatic enzymes (Figure 3). Kidney function biomarkers (Urea, Creatine, K + , Na + , Cl -) are bio-chemicals use to evaluate physiological response of kidney which involves electrolyte balance, purification of blood and other homeostatic activities.…”

Comparative analysis of the impact of artificially and naturally ripened fruit on obesity-induced biochemical and hematological alterations

“…14 In this study, MSG-induced obesity significantly elevated AST, ALT, ALP and non-significantly increased GGT when compared to control (P<0.05); artificially ripened fruit escalated the increased AST, ALT, ALP and GGT significantly which suggest that artificially ripened fruit could predispose to liver damage in obesity condition as CaC 2 used to induced fruit ripening has been reported to induce liver damage. 26 Furthermore naturally ripened fruit was able to significantly (P<0.05) counteract the impact of MSG-induced obesity on hepatic enzymes (Figure 3). Kidney function biomarkers (Urea, Creatine, K + , Na + , Cl -) are bio-chemicals use to evaluate physiological response of kidney which involves electrolyte balance, purification of blood and other homeostatic activities.…”