A green multi-element determination in cane molasses samples by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry after a simple dilution procedure

This study aimed to develop a method for elemental determination in molasses samples by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The sample preparation occurred with a simple dilution, and the diluent solution's proportion was achieved through a simplex centroid design. For 0.200 g of sample, the components proportion was 60 % of 1.0 mol L⁻¹ HNO₃, 24 % of 10 % (v v⁻¹) H₂O₂, and 16 % of 1.0 mol L⁻¹ HCl. Applying the recommended dilution, the limits of detection were 0.50, 0.01, 0.02, 0.06, 0.05, 0.56, 1.20, 0.19, 0.092 mg kg⁻¹ for Zn, Co, Cd, Mn, Cr, Al, Na, Pb, and Cu, respectively. The procedure was applied to the analysis of cane molasses samples, and the concentrations obtained using the proposed procedure agreed with the results obtained using microwave-assisted digestion. The method was aligned with green analytical chemistry principles, achieving scores of 0.57 and 0.78 in the AGREE and AGREEprep metrics, respectively.