Agriculture, activation analysis applications

Investigations of trace elements or trace contaminants in agricultural materials and products have been ably assisted by activation analysis applications. Much of this interest has come about because of the discovery that trace amounts of selenium had an essential function in mammals. The works of Guinn (335), Hadjimarkos (370), and McConnell (597) gave information about the selenium content of cereal diets. Bowen and Cawse (120) used it to determine Se in fertilizers and plant materials, while Duftschmid and Leibetseder (242) investigated the relationship between Vitamin E deficiencies and the selenium content of animal organs by an activation analysis method. 

Loveridge and Smales (560) were the first to publish an extensive paper about the applications of activation analysis to biochemistry. Their report covered the period 1944-1957. Since then many other review articles have been written about its capabilities as a methodology to analyze for trace substances in problems from medicine, veterinary medicine, forensic medicine, dental science, pharmacology, botany and agriculture. More specifically, these articles can be categorized in the following manner ... 

Applications of Stable Tracers and Activation Analysis in Plant and Agricultural Science... 

Nature Biotechnology. New York Nature Publishing. Monthly. ISSN 1087-0156. The primary function is to publish novel biological research papers that demonstrate the possibility of significant application in the pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural, and environmental sciences. An equally important function is to provide analysis of, and commentary on, the research published, as well as on the business, regulatory, and societal activities that influence this research. 

The analysis of sediments is potentially one of the most informative aspects of archaeological chemistry. Soils may contain information on site extent, boundaries, activities, chronology, resource availability, agricultural fields, or past environments. One of the first applications of this kind involved the analysis of phosphate in soils. The Swede Olaf Arrhenius in 1929 first documented a correlation between soil phosphate and human activity and used that information to find buried prehistoric sites. Since that time, archaeologists and soil scientists have tried to find new ways to look into the earth with chemical analysis. 

Apart from their academic interest and occurrences in natural substances (Chapter 32), heterocycles find extensive applications in industrial and fine chemicals, medicines (Chapter 33), analysis, agriculture, and in many day-to-day activities and in many technological fields. ... 

This chapter has provided an introduction to a number of industrial (and related) fields which utilize infrared spectroscopy as an analytical technique. This method is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of active and non-active ingredients. The food industry uses information from the mid- and near-infrared regions to carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis. Agricultural applications, such as the evaluation of grain, and the pulp and paper industries, were introduced and near-infrared spectroscopy was demonstrated as an important approach in these fields. Paints are variable mixtures and infrared spectroscopy provides an effective technique for the identification of the components of paints. Examples of environmental applications of infrared spectroscopy, including gases and pollutants, were also discussed. 

The electrochemical detector is extremely sensitive, but suffers from two main drawbacks. Firstly, the mobile ( ase has to be extremely pure, in particular, free of oxygen and metal ions. Secondly, by-products of the oxidation or reduction processes are often absorbed on the surface of the electrodes and thus, if quantitative activity is required, frequent calibration is necessary. Ultimately the electrodes have to be cleaned usually by mechanical abrasion and replaced in the cell. Electrochemical detection is particularly suitable for small bore columns and possibly, in the future, LC capillary columns, due to the fact that the detector can be made extremely small in size. The detector has had a fairly wide area of application. It has been used under oxidizing conditions for the detection of phenols, hydroquinone and catechols and in particular for many compounds of biological interest including, catecholamines (35). It has been used to determine substances of industrial interest, and agricultural chemicals (36). In its oxidation form, it has been used to detect amines of various types together with i enols and thiols. It has also been used in the analysis of ascorbic acid in food and biological materials, and in the pharmaceutical industry, for the analysis of multivitamin products. 

Steinhaus M., Sinuco D., Polster J., Osorio C., Schieberle P. Characterization of the aroma-active compounds in pink guava (Psidium guajava, L.) by application of the aroma extract dilution analysis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 56 4120-4127 (2008). 

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