Abstract

A REVIEW ON COMPOSITION AND ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR THE ESTIMATION OF EDIBLE SALTS

Rayeesa Seema, Divya. M. Sridhar K., Sridevi P.* and Bhagavan Raju M.

ABSTRACT

Salt is an essential dietary mineral for maintaining life. Edible salt was sold in forms such as sea salt and table salt, which latter usually contained an anti-caking agent and may be iodized to prevent iodine deficiency. After extensive literature, we learned that essential elements deficiency and toxicity cause several diseases in the human body. Different analytical instruments used to detect various essential element concentrations present in food and its supplements. Essential elements like Na, K, Ca, Cl, Mg, Si, S, Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Co, etc were detected through analytical instruments like Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) in the laboratory to perform elemental analysis on an unknown substance.
Calcium, magnesium, sulphate content, and trace minerals such as Fe, Cu, Cd, Pb, As, Ag and Zn were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy [AAS] was used to detect and analyze potassium and Magnesium, Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy [FAAS] and Electro Thermal Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy [ET-AAS] were used to analyze Iron present in samples. Quantitative elemental study was carried out to determine the constituents of different types of common Indian edible salts with the calibration-free LIBS method. Lighter elements such as Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Carbon were detected only with Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy [LIBS] but not with Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Similarly, the X-Ray Fluorescence technique (XRF) was utilized for quantification due to its multi-element analytical capability, lower detection limit, capability to analyze metals and non-metals alike, and easy sample preparation.

Keywords: Rock salt, Sea salts, Trace minerals, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy [AAS], Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy [LIBS].