The concentrations of nine essential metals (K, Mg, Ca, Na, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Co) and two nonessential (Pb, Cd) metals were determined in three brands of commercially available roasted Ethiopian coffee powders (Abyssinia, Alem and Pride) obtained from local markets and their infusions using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). An optimized digestion procedure was developed using 5 mL of HNO3 and 1 mL of HClO4 with 4 hours total time at temperature around 350 o C for digestion of 0.5 g of powder sample while 4 mL of HNO3 and 1 mL of HClO4 with 4 hours total time for 25 mL infusion evaporated to dryness. The validity of the optimized procedure was evaluated by the analysis of spiked samples whose recovery of analytes was in the range of 97−103 % for the coffee powder and 95−102 % for the infusion samples. The mean concentration of each metal in the three brands of coffee powder samples was (µg element/g):

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and Cr) were determined in four brands of Ethiopian wines by flame atomic absorption spectrometer (FAAS) after digesting the wine samples with HNO3-H2O2 mixture. Among the major metals potassium (694-767 mg/L) was found to be at the highest level, followed by magnesium (58.1-79.2 mg/L), calcium (28.4-37.1mg/L) and sodium (24.0-24.4 mg/L). From the minor metals iron, zinc and manganese were in the ranges of 1.42-3.16, 1.82-2.70, and 1.04-1.88 mg/L, respectively, followed by copper (0.5-1.5 mg/L), nickel (0.18-0.20 mg/L), cobalt (<0.065-0.091 mg/L) and chromium (<0.075-0.192 mg/L). The toxic metal lead was in the range of 0.14-0.31 mg/L while cadmium was below detection limit of the analytical procedure used in this study (<0.01 mg/L). The levels of metals in the Ethiopian wines were found to be comparable with wines of some other countries.

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BackgroundGinger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is a common condiment for various foods and beverages and widely used worldwide as a spice. Its extracts are used extensively in the food, beverage, and confectionary industries in the production of products such as marmalade, pickles, chutney, ginger beer, ginger wine, liquors, biscuits, and other bakery products. In Ethiopia, it is among the important spices used in every kitchen to flavor stew, tea, bread and local alcoholic drinks. It is also chiefly used medicinally for indigestion, stomachache, malaria, fevers, common cold, and motion sickness. The literature survey revealed that there is no study conducted on the determination of metals in ginger cultivated in Ethiopia. Hence it is worthwhile to determine the levels of essential and non-essential metals in ginger cultivated in Ethiopia.MethodsThe levels of essential (Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Co, Cr, Mn, and Ni) and non-essential (Cd and Pb) metals in ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) cultivated in four different regions of Ethiopia and the soil where it was grown were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. 0.5 g of oven dried ginger and soil samples were digested using 3 mL of HNO3 and 1 mL of HClO4 at 210°C for 3 h and a mixture of 6 mL aqua-regia and 1.5 mL H2O2 at 270°C for 3 h, respectively.ResultsThe mean metal concentration (μg/g dry weight basis) ranged in the ginger and soil samples, respectively, were: Ca (2000–2540, 1770–3580), Mg (2700–4090, 1460–2440), Fe (41.8–89.0, 21700–46900), Zn (38.5–55.2, 255–412), Cu (1.1–4.8, 3.80–33.9), Co (2.0–7.6, 48.5–159), Cr (6.0–10.8, 110–163), Mn (184–401, 1760–6470), Ni (5.6–8.4, 14.1–79.3) and Cd (0.38–0.97, 0.24–1.1). The toxic metal Pb was not detected in both the ginger and soil samples.ConclusionThere was good correlation between some metals in ginger and soil samples while poor correlation between other metals (Fe, Ni, Cu). This study revealed that Ethiopian gingers are good source of essential metals and free from toxic metal Pb while containing negligible amount of Cd.