Development and validation of routine analysis methods for the determination of essential, nonessential, and toxic minor and trace elements in cereal and cereal flour samples by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

Various digestion procedures were carefully investigated and accurately evaluated with respect to their effect on the analysis of cereals and cereal flours. Multielement methods were selected and well developed for the determination of essential (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, and Zn), nonessential (Ag, Al, Ba, Bi, In, and Ga), and toxic (Cd and Pb) minor and trace elements by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. Only Ag could be determined, either with aqueous standard or standard addition calibration methods, while the standard addition methods were more accurate for the determination of other elements. The recoveries were mostly within the range of 84.1-113% for the expected values of all analytes with respect to certified reference material NIST SRM 1586a (rice flour). The results proved that, for cereals and cereal flours, the use of H2O2 for wet digestion and HNO3 for dry ashing were not necessary. Linear regression analysis and Student's paired t-test were applied to evaluate the significant differences between different procedures and type of samples.