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Principle of Wet Digestion

Wet digestion is a process used to quantify minerals in food samples. It involves oxidizing the sample using strong acids like nitric acid and perchloric acid. The digested sample is then analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry or flame photometry to determine mineral concentrations. These techniques work by measuring the absorption or emission of light at specific wavelengths after the digested sample is atomized. Standards curves are created using known concentrations of minerals to allow sample concentrations to be determined from absorption or emission readings.

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398 views3 pages

Principle of Wet Digestion

Wet digestion is a process used to quantify minerals in food samples. It involves oxidizing the sample using strong acids like nitric acid and perchloric acid. The digested sample is then analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry or flame photometry to determine mineral concentrations. These techniques work by measuring the absorption or emission of light at specific wavelengths after the digested sample is atomized. Standards curves are created using known concentrations of minerals to allow sample concentrations to be determined from absorption or emission readings.

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mati abbasi
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PRINCIPLE OF WET DIGESTION:

It is used for quantification of minerals in any type of food stuff.

⮚ Wet ashing:
It’s also used for quantification of minerals. It is done by using strong acids or their
mixtures to oxidize sample or usually used for elemental analysis. (Flaming and Atomic
Absorption Spectrometry both are used for wet ashing).
Apparatus:
● Weighing balance
● Conical flask
● Hot plate
● Measuring cylinder of 50-100 ml
Reagents/Solvents:
-Mixture of diacids [Nitric acid HNO3] , [ Perchloric acid HClO4]
-Distilled water
Procedure:
1. Take 0.5 g of sample of interest in a conical flask.
2. Add 10ml of diacids in the ratio of 3:1 [Nitric acid HNO3], [ Perchloric acid HClO4]
in flash that contain sample and place it on hot plate for 10 hours.
3. Remove or pick up the sample when it turns transparent or when 1-2 ml of
sample remains behind in the flask.
4. Cool the sample and transfer it to 100 ml beaker/conical flask and make volume
with distilled water upto 100 ml.

1) Flame Spectrophotometer:
It is an equipment which works on the principle of emission.

2) Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer:


It is an equipment which works on the principle of absorption or spectroscopy.
Principle:
● This method determines micro, macro and trace minerals in any food sample.
● Wet digested sample automised absorb energy in ground state moves into excited
state.
● Energy of specific wavelength is absorbed in hollow cathode lamp.
● This difference in amount of energy emitting from hollow cathode lamp and
absorbed energy of sample is measured.
● Absorption is directly proportional to or linearly related to the concentration of
minerals.
Hollow Cathode Lamp: (used in atomic absorption spectroscopy)
It is a type of lamp used to identify single type of elements from food. Specific lamps are
required for specific types of lamps.

Flame Spectrophotometer:
In flame, wet digested (ashed) sample is automised and electrons move to higher
energy state when these electrons return back to ground state emit energy of specific
wavelength. Amount determined by instrument called “Flame Spectrophotometer”. -----
-Amount of emitted energy of a specific wavelength for element of interest is measured.
-Emission is directly proportional to concentration of target food (amount of target
food).

Apparatus:
● Atomic, flame spectrophotometer
● Plastic bottle 100 ml
● Beaker 150 ml
● Crucible 30 ml
● Digestion apparatus
● Hot plate
● Dessicator
● Filter paper
● Pipette (2,4,10 ml)
● Volumetric flask (20,50,100 ml)
● Weighing balance
● Measuring cylinder
● Muffle furnace

Reagents:
● Distilled H2O
● Perchloric acid
● Nitric acid
● Stock solution of different minerals ( Ca, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cd, Se, Mg, Co, etc)

Procedure:
● Prepare or set up instrument (Atomic or Flame Spectrophotometer)
● Turn standard solution of each mineral element with minimum of 4 different
conc. (5,10,15,20 ppm). You can also use 3,6,9,12 ppm or 4,8,12,16 ppm as well,
it depends on requirements of mineral.
● Flush burner with distilled water between sample and reestablish zero
absorption point after eavh point.
● Preparation of calibration /standard curve from average of each standard.
● Read conc. of sample from plotted curve and compare it with standard curve.

Standard solution:
"It is made by specific amount of stock or mother solution if we want to identify mineral
element".
For standard solution of iron we pickup iron stock solution.

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