Simultaneous Determination of Iron, Copper and Cobalt in Food Samples by CCD-diode Array Detection-Flow Injection Analysis with Partial Least Squares Calibration Model

A flow injection-CCD diode array detection spectrophotometry with partial least squares (PLS) program for simultaneous determination of iron, copper and cobalt in food samples has been established. The method was based on the chromogenic reaction of the three metal ions and 2- (5-Bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol, 5-Br-PADAP in acetic acid - sodium acetate buffer solution (pH5) with Triton X-100 and ascorbic acid. The overlapped spectra of the colored complexes were collected by charge-coupled device (CCD) - diode array detector and the multi-wavelength absorbance data was processed using partial least squares (PLS) algorithm. Optimum reaction conditions and parameters of flow injection analysis were investigated. The samples of tea, sesame, laver, millet, cornmeal, mung bean and soybean powder were determined by the proposed method. The average recoveries of spiked samples were 91.80%∼100.9% for Iron, 92.50%∼108.0% for Copper, 93.00%∼110.5% for Cobalt, respectively with relative standard deviation (R.S.D) of 1.1%∼12.1%. The sampling rate is 45 samples h-1. The determination results of the food samples were in good agreement between the proposed method and ICP-AES