Various known methods for the assay of germanium in plants were carefully examined with standard organo germanium Ge-132. The results show that the great variation depends on the applied methods. So in this study, the improved method for the assay of germanium is proposed as follows: about three grams of the sample were heated in a furnace at 600°C for one hour, then treated with phenylfluorone color reagent, and the absorbance was measured at 507 nm. This improved method was applied to the determination of germanium in 12 kinds of tea and 18 kinds of vegetables. |