Possibilities of the short-term thermal and epithermal neutron activation for analysis of macromycetes (mushrooms)

Summary Fruitbodies of wild-growing macromycetes (mushrooms) of various genera and species collected in localities with different geochemical features and man-made burden in the Czech Republic were analyzed using the short-term instrumental neutron activation, with both thermal and epithermal neutrons. Analytical possibilities of these methods were compared. Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, V, Mn, Cu, and Br were determined regularly, whereas S, Ti, Rb, Cs, Ba, and Dy were determined occasionally with thermal neutron activation at irradiation-decay-counting times mode of 1-10-10 minutes. Because of high concentration of K and P in the macromycete dry matter (2-7% and 0.5-1%, respectively) and also high Cl concentration in some genera (up to 2.5%), all “1/v” absorbers, epithermal neutron activation in Cd box (1 mm thick wall) substantially suppresses their macroactivities and enhances sensitivity in the determination of elements with significant resonance integrals. Cu, Se, Rb, Ag, Hf, and sometimes Ba are determinable in the mode of 60-30-60 seconds, while K, Cu, As, Br, Rb, In, I, U (in some species also Co, Zn, Cs, Ba, and Hg) in the mode of 1-13-13 minutes. However, Na, Mg, Al, Cl, and Mn determination is not possible this way, as the (n,p) and (n,α) interfering reactions with fast neutrons and high K, P, and other interfering elements content make great interference contributions. Information about content of the essential and toxic elements in mushrooms is important in nutritional studies, because mushrooms form a non-negligible part of diet in many countries.