Determination of the Toxic and Nutrient Element Content of Almonds, Walnuts, Hazelnuts and Pistachios by ICP-AES

The trace element content of thirty-two nuts including almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and pistachios available in a Greek market was determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Wet acid digestion using nitric acid (65%) took place in Teflon autoclaves. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) ranged between 0.01 (Mg)-2.52 (Cu) mu g g(-1) and 0.02 (Mg)-8.40 (Cu) mu g g(-1), respectively. Good method linearity (r(2) > 0.9990) was observed for each element at the selected emission lines. The metals were quantified and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine whether or not there were any statistically significant differences among the metal concentrations inside the different nut species.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the trace element content of 32 types of nuts in a Greek market using ICP-AES, finding differences in concentration among elements but no significant differences among different nut species.