Chiang Mai Journal of Science

The decomposition methods for biological material samples have been studied. The analyses were performed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The matrix interference, the effects of mineral acids, sodium and calcium on boron emission lines were studied. The detection limit, recovery and precision of all methods were obtained. Four decomposition techniques such as: an open digestion, closed vessel digestion by oven heating, microwave oven digestion and ashing with the addition of calcium were studied for the complete dissolution of the samples. Of the four techniques, the ashing procedure was the simplest, fastest, reliable to obtain complete decomposition and showed good recovery. The boron content found in the NIST plant standard reference materials agreed well with certified values. The results for the blood samples showed good agreement with those obtained by the conventional photometric curcumin method.