ANALITICAL PERFORMANCE AND VALIDATION OF OPTICAL EMISSION AND ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY METHODS FOR MULTIELEMENTAL DETERMINATION IN VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

摘要

This study presents the validation of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for the determination of macroelements and microelements, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) and thermal decomposition atomic absorption spectrometry (TDAAS) for essential traces and toxic elements in vegetables and fruits. The limits of detection were in the range 0.02 - 5 mg kg~(-1) for ICP-OES, 0.004 - 0.025 mg kg~(-1) for GFAAS and 0.004 mg kg~(-1) Hg for TDAAS. Accuracy of the methods was checked by analysis of certified reference materials that provided recovery in the range 87 - 108%. The precision assessed from the analysis of real samples of dried goji berry was in the range of 1.5 - 10.0%. The spectrometric methods fulfilled the requirements of Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (AOAC) and European Commission so that ICP-OES, GFAAS and TDAAS were considered appropriate for determination of elements in vegetables and fruits.