Determination of chemical elements of barley and teff using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS)

Metallic elemental analyses are needed to complete food composition databases, in which humans consume food to obtain energy and be able to do everyday work. The study aimed to investigate the concentrations of some metals (K, Al, Fe, Cu, Cd, and Pb) in teff and barley samples using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) techniques. The samples, weighing 0.5 grams each, were subjected to wet digestions using a mixture ratio of 7:3(vol/vol) of HNO₃ to H₂O₂ reagents at 90°c for 3:00 h under optimal conditions. The reagents were used to digest food samples for the presence of specific metallic elements. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) was used to analyze the mineral contents of the digested samples. The results demonstrated that the relative concentrations obtained in these cereal crops are different from one another. The concentration of metallic elements in mg/kg of K (2709.6±3.3), Al (952.3±4.2), Fe (320.9±4.8), Cu (25.3±3.2), Pb (ND) and Cd (ND) for red teff, K (3053.7±1.6), Al (1095.2±4.2), Fe (271.6±4.8), Cu (60.1±3.2), Pb (ND) and Cd (ND) for white teff while K (4333.3±3.2), Al (2595.2±4.2), Fe (74.0±0.00), Cu (10.5±1.8), Pb (ND) and Cd (ND) for barley. The high content of potassium and aluminum metallic elements was found in barley cereals. The results of this study will be useful in enriching the database of Ethiopian cereals as foods, advancing the knowledge of cereals and deepening the scientific understanding of the cereals.