{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T21:51:06Z","timestamp":1771537866267,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,9]],"date-time":"2023-01-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1673222400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Separations"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Trace metal elements (TMEs) are among the most important types of pollutants in the environment. Therefore, a precise determination of these contaminants in several environmental components is required for the safety assurance of living organisms. Spectroscopic analysis is an efficient technique employed to detect and determine TME contents in numerous samples. Hence, to achieve reliable and accurate results when using spectroscopic analysis, samples should be carefully prepared. In the present study, the comparison of eight digestion methods of five vegetal samples was carried out to quantify Cd, Mn, Al and Mg contents using the atomic absorption spectroscopy technique. According to the extraction techniques used in this study, results showed an outstanding difference in TME levels determined in the same vegetal sample. The results obtained indicated that the highest Mn concentrations were recorded when using the mixture of HNO3-HClO4 in the studied species: atriplex portulacoides, arthrocnemum indicum, olea europaea BCR-62, ulva lactuca and ulva lactuca BCR-279 compared to all other methods. Regarding the extraction of Cd, our results showed that heated extraction using different acids (HNO3-H2SO4-HClO4, HCl-HNO3, HNO3-HClO4, HNO3-H2SO4, HNO3-HCl-HClO4 and HNO3-HCl-H2SO4) was the most efficient in atriplex portulacoides, arthrocnemum indicum, olea europaea BCR-62, ulva lactuca and ulva lactuca BCR-279. Similarly, these heated acid digestion techniques (efficient for Cd) showed the highest levels of Al in atriplex portulacoides and arthrocnemum indicum. However, for the Mg extraction, our results revealed that the effectiveness of the method used depended on the plant species studied. Regarding these findings, the efficiency of metal quantification by AAS depends on the digestion procedure, the metallic ion to determine and the plant species.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/separations10010040","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,9]],"date-time":"2023-01-09T04:47:08Z","timestamp":1673239628000},"page":"40","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":38,"title":["Comparison of Digestion Methods Using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry for the Determination of Metal Levels in Plants"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2758-5304","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Insaf","family":"Bankaji","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"RME-Laboratory of Resources, Materials, and Ecosystems, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Bizerte 7021, Tunisia"}]},{"given":"Rim","family":"Kouki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"RME-Laboratory of Resources, Materials, and Ecosystems, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Bizerte 7021, Tunisia"}]},{"given":"Nesrine","family":"Dridi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"RME-Laboratory of Resources, Materials, and Ecosystems, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Bizerte 7021, Tunisia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8977-500X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Renata","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Technologies and Applied Sciences, School of Agriculture, Polytechnic Institute of Beja, 7800-295 Beja, Portugal"},{"name":"CERENA, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Saida","family":"Hidouri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LR12SP13, Faculty of Medicine of Monastir, University of Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1914-7435","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bernardo","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MARE\u2014Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre & ARNET\u2014Aquatic Research Network Associated Laboratory, Faculdade de Ci\u00eancias da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ci\u00eancias da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7187-0386","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Noomene","family":"Sleimi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"RME-Laboratory of Resources, Materials, and Ecosystems, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Bizerte 7021, Tunisia"}]},{"given":"Isabel","family":"Ca\u00e7ador","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MARE\u2014Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre & ARNET\u2014Aquatic Research Network Associated Laboratory, Faculdade de Ci\u00eancias da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ci\u00eancias da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1186\/s40543-016-0085-6","article-title":"Comparative study of three digestion methods for elemental analysis in traditional medicine products using atomic absorption spectrometry","volume":"7","author":"Uddin","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. 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