Abstract
Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was applied to the determination of iron in foods.
(1) Absorbancy at 248.3mμ was meassured to determine iron.
(2) A linear relationship between an absorbancy and a concentration was found within the range of 0-15 ppm iron.
(3) Samples were burnt to ashes in an electric muffle furnace at 550°C, and after the ashes were dissolved with 4ml. of 6 N hydrochloric acid and made up to 100ml. with water, the solution was submitted to the analysis of iron.
(4) Silicon, aluminum, phosphate, tin, zinc and chromium interfered with the determination of iron remarkably and other metals interfered only slightly, but the interferences were eliminated by adding excess amount of strontium.
(5) Recoveries of iron added were satisfactory, and the values obtained by atomic absorption spectrophotometry agreed well with those obtained by o-Phenanthroline method.
(6) The reproducibility of analytical values was satisfactory, that is, the coefficient of variation for iron was 1.63% for skipjack and 4.23% for clam.
(7) Contents of iron in marine products were about 1-20mg%, and the content of it in shrimp was the smallest of all marine products examined, and contents of it in clams were remarkably high in comparison with other fishes.
Since the determination of iron by atomic absorption spectrophotometry is convenient and rapid, and the interferences of coexistent elements can be controlled by a mere addition of strontium, it is considered that this method is the best for the determination of iron in foods.
