Sample preparation strategies alternative to mineralization for elemental analysis in foods by spectroanalytical techniques – A review

[Display omitted] •Techniques for sample preparation alternative to mineralization,•Critical discussion of advantages, disadvantages, limitations and potentialities,•Spectroanalytical techniques applied in the metal and metalloid determinations,•Comments about some real examples from the literature. Traditional sample preparation methods for determining inorganic chemical species are based on mineralization processes. However, the demand for more practical and faster methods that maintain good analytical characteristics and reliability in the data generated from trivial methods drives the development of new sample treatment strategies. This review article addresses sample preparation methods alternative to mineralization for determining metals and metalloids in food samples using atomic spectrometry techniques. The following methods will be critically discussed, showing their characteristics, advantages, limitations, and applications: direct solid sampling analysis, slurry sampling, solid–liquid extraction, alkaline treatment, enzymatic digestion, emulsified systems-based methods, and liquid sample dilution methods.