Rapid determination of some trace metals in several oils and fats

Abstract

An atomic absorption spectrophotometric method has been devised for the rapid determination of trace metals, found in several vegetable oils and fats. Samples were prepared using an ultrasonically assisted acid-extractive technique. The parameters of the analysis were optimized to improve the recovery of metals from the oil matrixes at an ultra trace level within the least possible time. The use of ultrasonic intensification, followed by centrifugation for phase separation reduced the conventional acid extraction time from 180 to only 10 minutes. The respective range of recovery of iron, copper, nickel and zinc was found to be 94.6-98.0 %, 93.6-100.4 %, 95.0-97.3 % and 96.0-101.2 % in a soybean oil which was fortified with 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 μg/gm of each of the metals using the standard addition method. The ranges of recovery of these metals as investigated by the proposed method were also found in close agreement with those of the wet digestion method. Most of the samples of commercial oils and fats were found to be contaminated with notable amounts of iron and nickel ranging from 0.13-2.48 and 0.027-2.38 ppm respectively. The contents of copper and zinc were also high in many brands, ranging from 0.01-0.15 ppm and zinc 0.03- 0.21 ppm respectively, which poses a threat to oil quality and to human health.