Method Validation for 9 Types of Minerals in Infant and Adult Nutritional Formulas using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

The analytical method for the determination of minerals (sodium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc) in both infant and adult nutritional formulas, using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, was validated in terms of precision, accuracy, and linearity. Certified reference material 1849a, purchased from national institute of standards & technology, was used for the infant and adult nutritional formula. All calibration curves exhibited strong correlation linearity (r2=0.9999) within the tested ranges. The recovery values of mineral compounds ranged from 90.35 to 110.63%, and the limit of detection and of quantification was less than 0.1005 mg/kg and 0.3351 mg/kg, respectively. The inter-day precision (n=12) values ranged from 1.19 to 18.19%, and intra-day precision (n=3) values ranged from 0.09 to 4.80%. Therefore, microwave digestion and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry were useful analytical methods for 9 types of minerals in food. The analytical methods verified in this study may be used to build up a food composition database for national health promotion.