K and Ca content of fresh green tea, black tea, and tea residue determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis.

X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) can be successfully used for the qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of various agricultural products. Its simplicity, high throughput and the possibility of automation make it useful for screening large numbers of samples. The K and Ca content of 138 samples of fresh green tea, black tea and black tea residues were determined by applying the XRF system. Such a method of mineral analysis of food products is not very common. Tea from different tea-growing areas of Turkey, green tea of different shooting periods, black tea processed at different tea plants and tea residues from these black tea were analysed. The K content of green tea, processed black tea and tea residues after brewing were found to have ranges of 19,049-26,254 mg/kg, 21,904-26,883 mg/kg and 9,468-13,778 mg/kg, respectively. In the same samples the Ca content was determined as 3,580-4,799 mg/kg, 3,370-4,823 mg/kg, and 3,743-5,733 mg/kg, respectively. These findings were compared with the results of atomic emission techniques and it was concluded that the XRF system could be effectively used for quantitative analysis of the K and Ca content of tea samples.