Multi-Elemental Characterization of Edible Vegetable seeds and Leafy vegetable seeds from Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh, India Using Proton-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE)

Abstract

Proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) was applied to characterize the elemental composition of edible vegetable seeds and leafy-vegetable seeds samples collected from Vizianagaram district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The samples were oven-dried, homogenized, mixed with graphite, pelletized and irradiated with a 3 MeV proton beam generated by a 3 MV tandem Pelletron accelerator at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India. Characteristic X-rays were detected using a Si(Li) detector and the spectra were processed with GUPIX. The analytical procedure was checked using NIST Apple Leaf certified reference material, for which the original study reports agreement between measured and certified concentrations. Across the investigated samples, the manuscript reports 22 elements: Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Ce, Cu, As, Zr,  Hg, Pb, Ga, Sr and Se. Potassium was reported in every sample, whereas several other elements showed sample-dependent occurrence. The data also indicate the presence of nutritionally relevant elements such as K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and Se together with potentially toxic elements including As, Hg and Pb. These findings demonstrate the utility of PIXE for rapid multi-element screening of plant-derived foods and provide baseline information for environmental and food-quality monitoring in the study region. However, quantitative dietary-risk interpretation requires confirmation of concentration units, complete sample identification, replicate measurements, analytical uncertainties and comparison with element-specific regulatory limits on an equivalent mass basis.