Determination of elemental concentration of seed coats of different fruits by using WDXRF spectroscopy technique T. Korkut • H. Korkut • A. Karabulut • G. Budak Received: 15 July 2010 / Published online: 19 August 2010 Ó Akade ´miai Kiado ´, Budapest, Hungary 2010 Abstract Elemental concentrations of five different seed coats of fruit seeds were determined by using wavelength- dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) technique. Basic aim of this study is to measure mass percentages of macro, micro and trace elements in samples. Besides, analyze results have been commented in terms of correlation between the same element types in seed coats of different fruits. Some interesting results have been obtained about element quality and quantity. Keywords Seed coats Á WDXRF spectroscopy Á Elemental analyze Introduction Seeds of fruits are frequently used for agricultural and nutrition engineering processes. Additionally they are infinitely crucial materials in fruit grown. So determining their elemental compositions and mass percentages are an important issue. There are several studies on WDXRF spectroscopic qualitative and quantitative analyses. Mineralogical effect correction in wavelength-dispersive X-ray florescence analysis of pressed powder pellets for geological samples have been studied by Shan et al. [1]. Elemental composi- tion of ancient Chinese imitated porcelain samples has been obtained by using WDXRF and INAA methods by Xie et al. [2]. A WDXRF and XRD study on elemental composition and characterization of yellow and red ochre pigments from southern Portugal has been done by Gil et al. [3]. Multi-elemental fast WDXRF analyses have been studied for several different vegetation specimens by Marguı ´ et al. [4]. Elemental variations in leaves of tea have been determined in different harvest time by using WDXRF spectrometry by Ercis ¸li et al. [5]. Also Carvalho et al. [6] and Wang et al. [7] have used WDXRF measure technique. Several researchers have reported elemental analyze results for several herbal samples via different measure methods [8–13]. Trace elements play a key role in the biomedical activities, as these elements have a multitude of known and unknown biological functions [14]. In this paper, seed coats of several fruits (hickory, hazelnut, watermelon, clingstone and grape) have been used for WDXRF analysis. Results of measurements evaluated in terms of mass percentages of macro, micro and trace elements in seed coats. Experimental We have prepared our samples in laboratory conditions before semi qualitative analyze by WDXRF spectrometer. All samples were prepared under controlled conditions, including the grinding method, grinding time, pelletized pressure and time. First, the samples were mashed to below 100 lm. by using a Retsch sieve. They were mixed using a SPEX mill having 25 mL stainless-steel cup and balls after sieving process. Then they were dried in an oven at 100 ± 5 °C before preservation in desiccators. Pulverized samples were pressed into uniform pellets of 20 mm T. Korkut (&) Á H. Korkut Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Art, Ag ˘rı Ibrahim C ¸ ec ¸en University, 04100 Ag ˘rı, Turkey e-mail: turgaykorkut@hotmail.com A. Karabulut Á G. Budak Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Atatu ¨rk University, 25040 Erzurum, Turkey 123 J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2011) 287:501–504 DOI 10.1007/s10967-010-0749-4