Macro- and Micro-mineral Determination in Fish using Microwave Digestion and ICPAES.

David Ohm and Jeremy Unrau.  2007.

This experimental analysis will be looking at the amount of essential dietary minerals (Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, and Se) present in 3 different types of fish, in comparison to the price paid; the three types of fish in order of most expensive are Halibut, Cod, and Catfish. We formulated a hypothesis which stated that the price of the fish dictates the amount of minerals found in the fish. Two fillets of each type of fish will be acquired from the same location, and three samples will be run on each fillet. The fish samples were each blended and run through a microwave digestion, diluted, and then analyzed through ICP-AES. A total of 36 samples were analyzed and their mineral concentrations were found, and from back calculations the mineral content was determined in the original fillets. This was in turn used in comparison to they price of each fillet to determine the amount of mineral per dollar paid for fillet. Ti was found that halibut had the highest amount of Ca per dollar at 11.23mg/dollar. Code had the highest amount of Mg at 18.38mg/dollar and Se at 0.02286mg/dollar. Catfish was found to have the highest amount of Zn per dollar at 0.6278mg/dollar as well as Cu at 0.2061mg/dollar.