Abstract
This work focuses on the determination of rare earth elements (REE) in citrus ecosystem using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A comprehensive sampling was carried out in two organic and two conventional farms in the vicinity of Borborema city, São Paulo State, Brazil. The concentrations of lanthanum (La) in leaves were similar to those found in the soil with soil-to-plant transfer factors ranging from 0.65 to 1.05. The amount of REE decreased sequentially in the compartments soil, leaf, peel, pulp, seed and juice. Citrus plants can be considered accumulators of REE.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are thankful to the staff and operators of the nuclear research reactor IEA-R1, of Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (IPEN/CNEN) for irradiating the samples. The authors are also thankful to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the financial support.