Chemometric research of minerals and trace elements in selected malaysian local fruits using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES)

Abstract

Malaysia is a tropical country that has a rich diversity of fruits. Fruits are sources of many essential elements, proximate composition and minerals that play vital roles in the proper development and good health of the human body. This study aimed at evaluating the content of mineral elements; macro and micro elements. Fruit samples were obtained from the local farm located at Bagan Datuk, Perak, Malaysia. The results obtained by chemical analysis were evaluated statistically with the majority of the fruit samples were rich in some of the essential minerals like sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, copper, manganese and zinc. The data were subjected to chemometric assessment to understand the association between the elements concentration and to classify the fruit samples according to their minerals content. The principal components analysis (PCA) clearly showed a good separation of samples in terms of mineral constituents. The results fall within the limits.