Determination and chemometric evaluation of the mineral profile of maize flours

Abstract

Maize flour is a food rich in nutrients important for the proper functioning of the human body. Nevertheless, for the determination of metals in maize flour there are few studies, which raise concern about quality and its mineral composition for consumption. In this work, it was evaluated the concentration of essential (Ca, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mg, Cr and Zn) and non-essential (Cd and Cr) metals in yellow and white maize flour samples produced in Paraná State - Brazil. For this purpose, it was performed a sample treatment employing wet digestion in a digester block and determination of metals by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The highest concentrations found in the flour were Ca (55.4 mg kg−1) and Mg (86.9 mg kg−1) and the lowest concentrations were Cr (0.11 mg kg−1) and Cd (0.01 mg kg−1). In yellow and white maize flour the highest concentration was for Mg, 81.5 mg kg−1and 98.4 mg kg−1, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that some samples had a similar mineral profile, such as the relationship with the place of origin of the cereal.