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    Effects of different drying processes on the concentrations of metals and metalloids in plant materials.

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    6 p.The drying process of fresh plant materials may affect the porous structure, dehydration and a number of quality characteristics of these materials. Therefore, this study has investigated the effect of different drying processes on the variation of metal and metalloid concentrations in the dried plant materials. Seven varieties of native plant species collected from Sa˜o Domingos mine were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis(INAA) to investigate the effects of freeze-drying (FD),ambient air-drying (AAD) and oven-drying (OD) process on the concentrations of metals and metalloids in the plant biomass. Comparison of ambient air-dried, oven-dried and freeze-dried preparations allows a phenomenological description of the dehydration artefacts. In the quantitative analysis of metals and metalloids, FD and OD plant samples show the higher concentrations of metals and metalloids when compared to those in the AAD plant biomass. The freeze-drying process is comparatively reliable for determination of metals and metalloids concentrations in plant materials.This research work was supported by the Fun- 242 dac¸a˜o para Cieˆncia e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through research 243 contract PTDC/AMB/65462/2006—HYPERAS. The principal author 244 (H.M.A) thanks FCT for his post-doctoral grant.Peer reviewe
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