Simultaneous Determination of 20 Inorganic Elements in Preserved Egg Prepared with Different Metal Ions by ICP-AES

In the present study, 20 inorganic elements in three parts of preserved eggs prepared with different metal ions, including Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, P, Pb, Zn, Se, and Sr, were determined simultaneously by using inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The recoveries obtained by the standard addition method ranged between 84.4 and 112.2 %, and RSDs were lower than 8.76 %, The detection limits of the method for the 20 elements were in the range of 0.4–10 μg L−1. The determination results showed that three parts of preserved eggs prepared with different metal ions are all rich in essential inorganic elements, such as Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, and Zn, and the contents of most of the inorganic elements in egg yolk are higher than in egg white. In comparison with fresh duck eggs, the contents of Na, Cu, Fe, Al, and Mn are significantly increased in three parts of preserved eggs prepared with different metal ions. Metal ions added in pickling solution would significantly affect the content of element added in preserved eggs. High contents of Pb (20.15 μg/g in egg shell, 18.99 μg/g in egg white, and 0.96 μg/g in egg yolk) were found in preserved eggs with PbO. Meanwhile, the experimental results indicated that the ICP-AES technique is easy to operate, rapid, accurate, and highly sensitive to determine many inorganic elements simultaneously in preserved egg.