eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 2014-08-18 2 9 532 538 10.12691/jfnr-2-9-1 JFNR2014291 article Afzal Shah afzalnm@yahoo.com 1 2 Farzana Sikandar 2 Imdad Ullah 2 3 Afzal Shah 3 Salah Ud-Din Khan 4 Usman Ali Rana 4 4 Thomas McCoy 4 Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology, Bannu 28100, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Deanship of scientific research, College of Engineering, PO Box 800, King Saud University, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia Honey is an important food ingredient due to its nutritive and medicinal values. In this project, varieties of honey samples were collected from different environmental sites in District Bannu. Several spectroscopic techniques were used to determine the composition of a series of trace elements within these samples. Cu, Zn, Al, Fe and Mg composition was determined using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS), meanwhile Pb, Ni, Cd and Cr composition was determined by electro-thermal atomic absorption spectroscopy (ETAAS) and graphite atomic absorption spectroscopy (GAAS). Lastly, As, Hg, and Se composition was determined by Hydride generation atomic absorption spectroscopy (HGAAS). The trace elements Al, Zn, Mg, Fe, Cu, Cr, Pb, Cd and Ni were found in considerable abundances. However the amounts of As, Hg and Se were below the detection limits of the instrument ( ≥ 0.1 ppm, ≥ 0.1 ppm and ≥ 0.2 ppm for each element respectively). http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/2/9/1/jfnr-2-9-1.pdf trace elements honey food nutrition environment