EDXRF for screening micronutrients in lentil and sorghum biofortification breeding programs

Background and aims This study explores the use of energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) for screening micronutrient concentrations in lentil and sorghum grain for biofortification breeding programs. Methods Lentil and sorghum seed was provided from biofortification breeding programs and analysed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine the reference concentration levels of Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn. A subset of these samples was used to establish the EDXRF calibration and another subset used for validation of the method. Results The results show the EDXRF analyses of the lentil and sorghum are not significantly different to the reference ICP-MS for all elements analysed, except for Mn with %RSD of replicate analysis < 5 % for lentil analysis and < 10 % for sorghum. Conclusions EDXRF analysis enables rapid and accurate analysis of Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn in lentil and sorghum.