Determination of ten elements in the spice samples using an inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy

There is a need to determine the elements occurring in biological samples both in macro- and in micro-quantities by a reliable method. Emission spectrometry with the excitation in the inductively coupled plasma (ICP-AES) is used for that purpose. This technique has been used for the simultaneous determination of 14 elements (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sr, V) in cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg samples. The main problem in the analysis of biological materials using the ICP-AES method is their total mineralization. The best results have been obtained during mineralization with concentrated HNO3 and concentrated HF added to the nitric acid at the last stage. The worked out method has been verified on the certified reference material of ''Oriental Tobacco Leaves'' CTA-OTL-1 and a good analytical agreement of analytical data with the certified standard has been achieved.