The determination of nutrients, trace elements and heavy metals in plant tissue samples is important because of various aspects. As plants primarily serve as a food and animal feed they are an important source of nutrients. But also, toxic elements can also be found in plants, primarily through uptake from the soil, water, and fertilizer.
Such an analysis is usually conducted by ICP, which requires acid digestion. This report describes X-ray fluorescence spectrometry as a suitable alternative method to determine nutrient and trace element content in plant material. It also is suitable as a fast screening tool to test for trace element content.
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