Spectrometric determination of iron and copper in vegetable oils after separation with Schiff base impregnated silica gel column: A simple approach for eliminating the high organic matrix

Abstract

SummaryA simple solid‐phase extraction method has been described for the separation of Fe(III) and Cu(II) from liquid vegetable oils using N,N′‐bis(4‐methoxy salicylidene) ethylenediamine impregnated silica gel and the determination of these ions. The experimental parameters that affect the separation/preconcentration of ions were investigated by batch and column methods prior to the determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Fe(III) and Cu(II) ions in 20.0 g portion of oil samples can be quantitatively sorbed and then eluted completely with 5.0 mL of 2.0 mol L−1 HNO3. Limits of detection were calculated as 22.8 and 13.9 μg kg−1 for Fe(III) and Cu(II), respectively. The repetition of the suggested method was checked by finding relative standard deviation for five repeated analyses, which was 1.5% for Fe(III) and 0.1% for Cu(II). Applicability of the method was controlled with spiked and unspiked sunflower, corn, canola, olive, soya and hazelnut oils.