Determination of Eight Elements in Amomum villosum by Super Microwave Digestion/Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry
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Abstract:
A rapid super-microwave-digestion/ICP-MS method was established for the simultaneous determination of aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), tin (Sn), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) in Amomum villosum, a plant with medicinal and nutritional value. A HNO3-H2O super microwave digestion system was employed to digest the Amomum villosum samples, and the contents of the aforementioned elements were determined by ICP-MS in kinetic energy discrimination (KED) mode. Moreover, the internal standard method was adopted to improve the matrix effect and interference. The detection limits of all the investigated elements were found to be low (0.00025~0.25 μg/kg). Adequate linear relationships between the signals and concentrations, and correlation coefficients (r) within 0.9997~1.0000 were obtained [r(Hg)=0.9935]. The proposed method was validated using standard reference materials, namely rice (GBW10010) and Salvia miltiorrhiza (GBW(E)090066), and the results were found to be within the recommended ranges of the references. The spiked recovery rates of Amomum villosum samples sourced from Guangdong were found to be 85.71%~109.09%, with relative standard deviations of 1.93%~8.01%. The analysis of Amomum villosum samples sourced from different locations (Guangxi, Yunnan, Hainan, and Guangdong) revealed variations in the contents of the target elements, with the differences being primarily reflected in the shell components. The Al content in the shells was found to be the highest (455.59~613.45 mg/kg), with the Guangxi-based samples exhibiting the highest Al content among the samples. The content of Pb in the shells was found to be in the 0.68~4.56 mg/kg range, with the samples sourced from Hainan exhibiting the highest Pb content. The Ni contents of the shells (0.42~2.06 mg/kg) and nuts (0.22~2.29 mg/kg) were found to be similar. The Cr content of the shell was estimated to be 0.53~1.05 mg/kg, and the Cd content was below 0.04 mg/kg. Hg and Sn were found to be present only in the shells. In particular, the content of Hg was ascertained to be 0.01 mg/kg in all the samples. The highest contents of Sn (0.10 mg/kg) and As (1.05 mg/kg) were detected in the shells of samples sourced from Hainan. The proposed method exhibits high precision and accuracy, and sufficient suitability for the determination of multiple elements in Amomum villosum. The contents of Cd, Hg, Sn, and As are all lower than the limits recommended by national standards. Additionally, the inclusion of Pb, Ni, and Al in risk monitoring indicators was recommended.
