Absorption and Organ Content of Cadmium from the Kernels of Confectionery Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) Fed to Male Rats

The purpose of this study was to determine the availability of cadmium from the kernels of sunflowers grown in soils containing a natural abundance of cadmium. Weanling male rats were used as the experimental model. Fresh sunflower kernels containing either 330 or 780 mu g Cd/kg were ground and added to a purified rodent diet at 20%. Cadmium chloride was added to purified diets without kernels. After 10 weeks, a test meal of each diet, containing super(109)Cd, was fed and whole-body counting techniques were used to estimate cadmium absorption. Cadmium absorption from all diets ranged from 0.39 to 0.55%. Absorption was 30% less (P < 0.001) from diets containing kernels than from those that did not. The concentrations of cadmium in various organs were proportional to the amounts in the diet but highest in the intestinal mucosa. Cadmium tended to be lower in organs of rats fed diets with sunflower kernels than in those of rats fed diets without sunflower kernels.