Validation of atomic absorption spectrophotometry and mercury analyzer for analysis of cadmium, lead and mercury in red chili pepper

Abstract

A Flame-Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS-flame) for the quantification of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) and mercury analyzer for quantitative analysis of mercury (Hg) in red chili pepper (Capsicum annum L.) were developed and validated. The method was validated for some parameters, namely linearity and range, precision, accuracy, Limit of Detection (LoD) and Limit of Quantification (LoQ), according to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH). The standard curves were linear over the concentration ranges of 0.1-1.4 μg mLG -1 (Cd), 0.10-1.80 μg mLG -1 (Pb) and 0.5-20 μg mLG -1 with correlation coefficient (r) values >0.99. The detection limits obtained were 0.022 μg mLG -1 , 0.0594 μg mLG -1 and 1.77 μg mLG -1 for Cd, Pb and Hg, respectively. The quantification limits obtained were 0.075 μg mLG -1 (Cd), 0.1981 μg mLG -1 (Cd) and 5.91 μg mLG -1 (Hg). The Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) values found for its intra-day and interday precision were lower than those required by RSD Horwitz. The mean recovery percentage was 97.98-101.9133%.The validated methods were successfully used for determination of Cd, Pb and Hg in red chili pepper.