Abstract:

The germanium contents in colored and ordinary wheat grains and wheat-field soils from Zhengzhou, Luohe,
Gongyi, Jiaozuo and Shangqiu of Henan province were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after
microwave digestion and related between wheat grains and soil. The results showed that germanium content in wheat from
Zhengzhou was the highest followed by that from Jiaozuo. The bioabsorptivity of germanium in wheat was closely related
to wheat varieties and soil characteristics. Wheat-cropped soils from Zhengzhou and Luohe contained relatively abundant
levels of germanium. Blue wheat from Zhengzhou showed a bioabsorptivity of germanium as high as 85.2%. In contrast, the
lowest level of 31.9% was observed for grey wheat from Luohe. These results indicate that blue wheat can be a relatively
germanium-enriched food material and has promising prospects.

Key words: wheat, soil, germanium, biological absorption ratio, microwave digestion, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry