Determination Essential and Toxic Metals in Bitter, Milk and White Chocolate Samples from Eight Different Manufacturers

Abstract

Chocolate is consumed by people of all ages in every part of society. Chocolate is a very rich source of many essential metals for the body but it also may involve toxic metals. Therefore, the accurate and precise method should be selected and applied to determine the essential and toxic metals in the chocolate samples. In present study, Na, K, Mg (II), Ca(II), Cu(II), Fe(III), Zn(II), Cd(II), Cr(III), Pb(II) and Ni(II) metals were determined by using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) in 24 different chocolate samples of 3 different types including 8 different brands of bitter, milk and white. The microwave-assisted digestion system was also used for the chocolate samples digestions. All results were given at 95% of confidence level. In addition, the accuracy of the method was also investigated by the analysis of a standard reference material (spinach leaves, NIST-1570a).