Determination of Zn, B, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na and Si in anisette samples by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A comparative study of several digestion methods of anisette samples has been carried out. Two dry ashing (DA) treatments as well as four wet ashing (WA) procedures using different mixtures of acids were applied for the sample mineralisation before analysis. Once the anisette samples were mineralised, the contents of Zn, B, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na and Si were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Each method has been studied statistically and also attending to their feasibility. After performing the optimisation of the different treatments tested, it was concluded that one wet ashing method employing a HNO3:H2O2 (10:1) mixture was the most suitable. This method was applied to the analysis of anisette samples. Na, Ca, Mg and Si were present in concentrations up to 215 mg l−1 for Na, 11.6 for Mg, 6.2 for Ca and 5.1 for Si. Fe and B concentrations were not higher than 0.12 mg l−1 and lower for Zn.