Application of Chemometrics in Environmental Research: Characterization of Wheats
from Various Regions According to their Microelement Content
Biljana Škrbić1, Svetlana Čupić2, and Antonije Onjia2
1 Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
2 Institute of Nuclear Sciences “Vinča”, Belgrade, Serbia
Corresponding author: Prof. Biljana Škrbić, Ph.D.
Faculty of Technology
University of Novi Sad
Bulevar cara Lazara 1
21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Telephone: +381/21/450288
Fax number: +381/21/450413
E-mail: biljana@tehnol.ns.ac.yu
CEJOEM 2005, Vol.11. No.2.: 79–86
Key words: Microelements, wheat, principal component analysis
Abbreviations:
PC PCA R RSD SD
= Principal Component = Principal Component Analysis = Correlation coefficient = Relative Standard Deviation = Standard Deviation
Abstract: Microelements (Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, Cd, As, Mn, Zn) were quantitatively analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in
14 wheat samples collected from fields of all Serbian crop land regions in 2002. Principal component analysis (PCA) was
applied to classify wheats on the basis of their microelement contents and to reveal the outlying samples. Loading plot
revealed which of the microelements are responsible for the classification attained. Pearson correlation matrix for all
variables was computed. The obtained results defined which of the variables need not be measured, i.e., could be estimated
by means of the set of variables necessary for classification.