Abstract
Sorghum is the fourth most important cereal produced in Argentina and the fifth worldwide. It has good agronomic characteristics and could be developed in arid areas, allowing a wide geographic distribution. Its starch content, higher than 70%, makes it possible to obtain a good yield of flours. Nutritionally, it should be noted that the grain does not have the protein fraction called prolamins, which makes it suitable for consumption by people with celiac disease. The multielemental composition constitutes an important indicator of the nutritional profile of the grains and allows, together with other parameters, to select the most suitable varieties for human consumption. In its determination, the preanalytical stage is decisive to obtain a reliable result. Organic samples are a challenge for sample introduction systems that use plasma-based techniques. As an alternative to conventional pretreatment with a microwave-assisted digestion (MWAD), a greener, quick, and simple treatment is proposed, using ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) in diluted acid media. The UAE method accelerates analysis times, improves performance and productivity, and was applied to sorghum samples cultivated in the province of La Pampa (Argentina). Microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (MIP OES) was employed for the determination of Cu, K, Mg, Mn, P, and Zn. The detection limits found ranged from 0.6 (Cu) to 89 (P) mg kg−1, and the precision expressed by the relative standard deviation (RSD) was ≤7.7% (Zn). For validation, a maize reference material (NCS ZC 73010) was evaluated. The principal component analysis revealed three different groupings related to the sorghum varieties' mineral profile.
Highlights
In Microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (MIP OES), the plasma torch is vertically oriented into the cavity, to avoid distortions in the plasma and unfavorable phenomena occurring with the sample transport; it has axial viewing for the finest detection limits and optimal sensitivity
Emission signals from the plasma are directed into the preoptic system, which works in conjunction with a fastscanning monochromator (Czerny–Turner monochromator—600 mm focal length) and a charge-coupled device (CCD) detector [29]
The equipment software carried out a scan of nebulizer gas pressure (NGP) and viewing position (VP), selecting the one with the highest intensity. us, to attain the best analytical performance, for each analyte wavelength, the VP was automatically optimized by the MIP OES
Summary
Moench) is the fifth cereal produced worldwide [1]. Its relative plasticity at planting time permits the development in arid areas [2, 3]. Sorghum grains are principally utilized for animal feeding and exportation in agricultural countries. It is an important source of nutrients especially for inhabitants of Asia and Africa who consume it in simple preparation [3]. In this regard, sorghum plays an important role in the nutrition of the most food-insecure regions of the world
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