Selected Mineral Contents in Wheat from Paraguay by X-ray Fluorescence

The two fold purpose of this paper is to determine the composition of selected elements in Paraguayan wheat and flour as well as to analyse the implications of the bromine/bromate content on bakery products： the use （malpractice） of KBrO3 as an additive in the bakery dough to improve the whiteness and other characteristics of bread is well known. Accordingly, selected minor and trace elements in eight varieties of wheat from the center and south areas of Eastern Paraguay as well as commercial flour samples and bakery products were analyzed by XRF （X-ray fluorescence） techniques. The examined elements were K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, Rb, Sr. The results on wheat and commercial flour were consistent with those found elsewhere. With regard to the bakery products, in about 35% of the samples, the bromine/bromate content exceeded the normal Br values of Paraguayan flour showing bromate malpractice. From dietary point of view, it should be emphasized that KBrO3 is a complete carcinogen and its use as food additive has been banned. The employment of XRF to analyze bromine is easy, simple and reliable.