Determination of macro and micro cationic nutrients in banana, palm and roses plant tissues, using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES)

This study is focus on determine the concentration of macro and micro cationicnutrients: K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn in plant tissue samples banana, palm,roses, by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).The experimental part of this research was developed in the laboratories of theDepartment of Soil and Water Management (DMSA) in the Santa Catalina Ex-perimental Station of INIAP, which use atomic absorption technique for theanalysis of elements in leaf samples; this technique has limitations in terms oflimits of detection, matrix effects, linear range, and number of elements thatcan be analyzed simultaneously. However, emission spectroscopy with induc-tively coupled plasma is a technique that is at the forefront as an analytical toolfor multielement determination in leaf tissues. For this reason the technique ICP-OES is optimized, for analysis of macro and micro cationic nutrients insamples of plant tissue, since the use of this equipment will increase the oper-ational capacity of the laboratory. Analyses were carried out on samples of planttissue of banana, palm and roses, which are used as reference material in rou-tine analysis of plant samples carried out in DMSA laboratories; Apple Leaves1515 was used as a Certified Reference Material. Samples and standard refer-ence material subjected to wet digestion and then quantify the analytes understudy through the techniques of AA and ICP-OES. A comparative study was per-formed of the variables: accuracy, precision, linearity, limits of detection andquantification, in which it was determined there are significant differences be-tween the techniques used. Statistical analysis showed that there were highlysignificant differences in the content of macro and micronutrients in the tissuesanalyzed. In the case of magnesium in palm leaf tissue, the percentages were0.36 and 0.52%, obtained by AA and ICP respectively, and within the group ofmicronutrients, iron content in palm leaf tissue with values of 182.48 and122.33 mg/L. However, in the case of the samples of leaf tissue of banana, palmand roses, the values obtained by ICP-OES and AA in potassium analysis,showed that the difference is statistically significant.