EDXRF FOR DETERMINATION OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS IN THE BEETLE ALPHITOBIUS DIAPERINUS

摘要

Energy Dispersion X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry has been widely employed for chemical element determination of biological matrices, including insects. The beetle Alphitobius diaperinus is a major problem in poultry production, thereby infesting poultry litter and stored grains. Up to now, little is known about the behavior, physiology and environmental interactions of this insect. In this paper, EDXRF was applied to quantify the main chemical elements in A. diaperinus. For the quality of the analytical protocol, certified reference materials produced by National Institute of Standards and Technology - NIST were analyzed together with the samples. The technique was able to quantify Cl, P, S and Zn in this insect, presenting no significant variation at the 95% confidence level among the repetitions (n = 4). A different pattern of chemical element accumulation in this beetle was noticed compared to other Coleoptera species, in which the concentration of the chemical elements were markedly lower in A. diaperinus, probably associated to the restricted availability of chemical elements in food. Since no result has been found in the literature before, A. diaperinus was firstly chemically characterized in this paper.