Determination of Nine Mineral Elements in Hulless Barley by Ultraviolet Spectrophotometry and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The contents of nine mineral elements, including sulphur, zinc, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, iron, copper and manganese in five hulless barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum Hook. f.) lines were determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry and flames atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). For the determination of sulphur, the samples were dissolved by magnesia and anhydrous sodium carbonate at 250 degrees C for 0. 5 h and at 550 degrees C for 3 h in the muffle furnace, and then a certain amount of barium chloride was put into the sample solution for colorimetry of the UV-Vs spectrophotometer. For the determination of other eight mineral elements, all of the samples were dissolved by a kind of incinerating method: first, the sample was put into the muffle furnace at 250 degrees C for 0. 5 h and at 550 degrees C for 2. 5 h, then two droplets of 50%HNO(3) were distributed into each sample, and the last step was putting the sample into the muffle furnace at 550 degrees C for 0. 5 h. And then all of the ash was dissolved by 50%HNO(4) to 50 milliliter and determined by flames atomic absorption spectrometry. The precision, accuracy, repeatability and stability of the method were discussed too. The results showed that the relative standard deviations (RSD) were between 1. 2% and 3. 7%; The average recoveries were 97. 44%-101. 52% and the relative standard deviations (RSD) of sample determination were 1. 3%-3. 8%. The repeatability experiment showed that the relative standard deviations (RSD) were 2. 6%-6. 1%. And the content of each mineral element was the same after 24 hours; All these showed that the method has a good precision, accuracy, repeatability and stability. In all the hulless barley samples, the average contents were in the order of K>S>Mg >Ca>Fe>Na>Zn>Mn>Cu, and the contents of zinc, iron and manganese closely related to people's health were relatively higher than other crops. The data of the experiment could provide an accurate and credible evidence for the deeper exploitation of the hulless barley.