Abstract:

In the present study, a method for determining the contents of copper, zinc, iron, manganese, calcium and sodium in buckwheat, oat and barley by ICP-AES coupled with microwave digestion was developed. The operating parameters of ICP-AES were optimized and the effects of kinds and dosages of digestion solution on the determination results were investigated. Finally, a mixture digestion solution of HNO3 and HClO4 (10:3, V/V) was chosen. The detection limits of these six elements were between 0.005 μg/ml and 0.021 μg/ml, all the relative standard deviations (RSD) are less than 8%, and the recovery is 95.6% to 103.9%. In conclusion, this method can be used to determine trace elements in buckwheat，oat and barley with satisfactory results.

Key words: buckwheat, oat, barley, microwave digestion, ICP-AES, trace elements