Determination of proximate chemical composition and detection of inorganic nutrients in maize (Zea mays L.)

• Main Authors: Qamar, Shaista, Aslam, Muhammad, Javed, Muhammad Arshad
• Format: Article
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2016
• Subjects: QD Chemistry
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/69172/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2016.01.118
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Maize germplasm was collected from different maize research institutes and sown at University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan for the determination of proximate chemical composition and detection of inorganic nutrients. The proximate chemical composition of maize was performed in the laboratory by measuring moisture, crude fat, fiber and protein, whereas the detection of inorganic nutrients such as sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), manganese (Mg), potassium (K), iron (Fe) etc. was carried out using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The laboratory experiments shows that maize grains contain moisture content in the range of (8.98 to 10.45%), ash (0.81 to 1.35%), crude fiber (0.79 to 2.78%) and crude protein (11.05 to 12.79%)