Chapter 12 – Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: Advanced Analytical Technique

Application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to analyze solid samples and food materials is described in this chapter. A comparative study of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of atomic and molecular emission from LIBS spectra was performed using a mixture of SrCl 2 and Al 2 O 3 in powder form as a sample. The atomic emission from Sr and molecular emission from SrCl and SrO observed in LIBS spectra were analyzed. Calibration data collected at optimum experimental conditions were used to develop calibration curves, which can be used to predict the Sr concentration. Limits of detection for selected atomic and molecular emission spectra were determined. To showcase an application of LIBS technique in food science, analysis of wheat flour tortillas and comparison of organic and conventional vegetables are described. For the comparative study of organic and conventional vegetables, cauliflowers and broccolis were taken as working samples. Presence of the major elemental nutrients in these vegetables was detected by identifying emission lines of those elements in the LIBS spectra obtained from them. Both multivariate and univariate analyses were employed for comparison. Principal component analysis was performed for multivariate analysis, whereas intensities of emission lines of elements were compared in univariate analysis.