## 3 Results and Discussion
### Real Samples Analysis and Discussion  
The results of the analysis of the twenty-two spices samples are summarized in Table 3. Each spice was analyzed in duplicate, and the average value of each metal concentration is given. Among the examined analytes, Ag, Bi, Cd, Co, Pb and Tl were not detected in all samples. Ca and Mg were the major metal constituents of the spices, and their concentrations were in the range of 931-10,921 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) and 468-3847 mg kg\({}^{-1}\), respectively. The concentration of Al ranged between 34.1 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) and 566.0 mg kg\({}^{-1}\), the concentration of B ranged between not detected and 40.0 mg kg\({}^{-1}\), the concentration of Ba ranged between 4.38 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) and 100.7 mg kg\({}^{-1}\), the concentration of Cr ranged between not detected and 4.93 mg kg\({}^{-1}\), the concentration of Cu ranged between not detected and 19.9 mg kg\({}^{-1}\), the concentration of Fe ranged between 31.2 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) and 736.3 mg kg\({}^{-1}\), the concentration of Mn ranged between 6.51 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) and 501.0 mg kg\({}^{-1}\), the concentration of Ni ranged between not detected and 14.7 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) and the concentration of Zn ranged between 5.3 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) and 63.8 mg kg\({}^{-1}\). It must be highlighted that toxic metals that are regulated by the European Union were not detected in the herein analyzed samples [15].  
Figure 1 shows the average metal content for the determined metals in the spice samples.  
The results of this study regarding the elemental composition of the spices were compared with the findings of other studies, as shown in Table 4. As it can be observed, the elemental composition for all analytes was in agreement with the concentration ranges reported in the literature.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Clove\_1**} & & & \\ \cline{3-8}
**Element** & **Added** & **Found** & & & & **Chilli\_1** & \\  & **(mg kg\({}^{-1}\))** & **(mg kg\({}^{-1}\))** & **RR\%** & **RSD\%** & **Found** & **RR\%** & **RSD\%** \\ \hline  & 0 & \textless{}LOD & - & - & \textless{}LOD & - & 8.0 \\ Ni & 100 & 82.2 \(\pm\) 0.35 & 82.2 & 0.4 & 82.6 \(\pm\) 1.2 & 82.6 & 1.5 \\  & 250 & 223.2 \(\pm\) 3.3 & 89.3 & 1.5 & 242.8 \(\pm\) 3.7 & 97.1 & 1.5 \\  & 500 & 522.2 \(\pm\) 0.52 & 104.4 & 0.1 & 518.2 \(\pm\) 0.4 & 103.6 & 0.1 \\ \hline  & 0 & \textless{}LOD & - & - & \textless{}LOD & - & - \\ Pb & 100 & 97.2 \(\pm\) 2.3 & 97.2 & 2.4 & 87.5 \(\pm\) 7.7 & 87.5 & 8.8 \\  & 250 & 266.8 \(\pm\) 5.2 & 106.7 & 2.0 & 285.3 \(\pm\) 27.1 & 114.1 & 9.5 \\  & 500 & 562.1 \(\pm\) 0.9 & 112.4 & 0.2 & 563.9 \(\pm\) 3.9 & 112.8 & 0.7 \\ \hline  & 0 & \textless{}LOD & - & - & \textless{}LOD & - & - \\ Tl & 100 & 87.6 \(\pm\) 1.6 & 87.6 & 1.8 & 98.8 \(\pm\) 0.5 & 98.8 & 0.5 \\  & 250 & 228.8 \(\pm\) 5.5 & 91.5 & 2.4 & 270.2 \(\pm\) 4.2 & 108.1 & 1.6 \\  & 500 & 550.9 \(\pm\) 11.2 & 110.2 & 2.0 & 556.6 \(\pm\) 10.2 & 111.3 & 1.8 \\ \hline  & 0 & 46.0 \(\pm\) 2.4 & - & 5.1 & 33.9 \(\pm\) 1.3 & - & 3.8 \\ Zn & 100 & 136.5 \(\pm\) 0.8 & 90.5 & 0.6 & 125.1 \(\pm\) 0.2 & 91.2 & 0.2 \\  & 250 & 287.2 \(\pm\) 4.8 & 96.5 & 1.7 & 286.9 \(\pm\) 7.0 & 101.2 & 2.4 \\  & 500 & 538.8 \(\pm\) 2.2 & 98.6 & 0.4 & 530.1 \(\pm\) 1.5 & 99.2 & 0.3 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: _Cont._  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  
* LOQ: Limit of quantification. 2 LOD: Limit of detection.  
\end{table}
Table 3: Elemental composition of the examined samples. Each value is the average obtained from duplicate analysis of the examined sample.