The chemometric study of multi-elemental composition in cultivated rhubarb from Iraq Kurdish Region and Turkiye Siirt

Abstract

The concentrations of 30 elements (Li, Be, B, Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sr, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, Pt, Tl and Pb) in cultivated stems of rhubarb samples collected from the Kurdish region of Iraq (Sor, Rash, Karajar, Gara and Qalandar) and the Siirt region of Turkey (Pervari and Sirvan) were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass (ICP-MS) spectrometry after acid digestion by a microwave digestor (Berghof Speedwawe MWS-3). The analysis revealed that the levels of Mg, K and P in the samples found were higher than other metals. Conversely, the presence of metals such as Pt, Tl, Be and Ar was found to be at significantly lower concentrations. The levels of the elements determined in the cultivated rhubarb samples were subjected to chemometric analysis using correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) techniques for the classification of metal content and the places of samples. Linear correlation coefficient values representing the element-to-element correlation data were analysed at the 95% and 99% confidence levels. The results of the study showed that the rhubarb samples could be classified into three groups based on their elemental compositions, using the PCA method. These findings were found to be consistent with the results obtained through cluster analysis (CA). This suggests that the chemometric techniques used in this study are effective for identifying patterns and relationships in complex datasets and could be useful for analysing other samples and identifying their origins. Overall, this study provides important insights into the elemental composition of Rhubarb samples and could have implications for food safety and quality control.