Neutron activation analysis of the distribution of inorganic elements among five varieties of Brazilian corn

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was applied to determine the elements Br, Ca, Cl, Cu, Fe, I, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, S, V, Zn in five varieties of Brazilian corn, resulting from the studies carried out in order to increase their protein contents. The accuracy of the method was evaluated by means of reference material analysis. In general, the precision of the method was lower than 15%, except for Cu, I and S. Sensitivity and detection limit were also determined. Besides, tryptophan contents were determined. It was observed that the tryptophan content in improved corn samples was twice as large as in the normal samples. However, the same ratio was not observed in the inorganic element contents. (author) 11 refs.; 3 tabs