Ultrasound-assisted pretreatment for multielement determination in maize seed samples by microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry (MPAES)

•A new simple ultrasound assisted treatment for maize samples is proposed.•The concentration of 10 elements obtained by MPAES is reported.•Two validation methods for mineralization steps are showed.•Ultrasound assisted treatment was compared with conventional mineralization.

In this work, a rapid and simple ultrasound-assisted pretreatment for maize samples is proposed. Also, the performance of microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry (MPAES) for the analysis of Ag, Al, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Tl, V and Zn in maize seeds, was evaluated. Instrumental parameters optimization, as well as validation and application of the MPAES are presented. The obtained limits of detection were ranged between 0.7 μg g− 1 (for Mo and Fe) and 4.3 μg g− 1 (for Ca). Validation assays were carried out by standard addition and internal standard, showing good recovery performances, over 96% in all cases. The developed method was applied to trace elements determination of Argentinean maize samples, improving the productivity performance due the reducing costs — by the use of atmospheric nitrogen as plasma source for MPAES — and time analysis, which could be trustworthy for routine analysis, quality control and traceability of maize.