L. Dospatliev, S. Atanassova

Abstract. The purpose of this study is to analyze the content of trace element contents in tobacco by nearinfrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology together with a remote reflectance fibre-optic probe. The method allows immediate analysis of the tobacco without prior sampletreatment or destruction through direct application of the fibre-optic probe on ground samples.The calibration results obtained using samples of tobacco allowed the determination of Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn, with a standard error of prediction (SEC (P)) and a correlation coefficient (RSQ) expressed in mg.kg-1 of tobacco of 1.68 and 0.954 for Pb, 1.05 and 0.860 for Cd, 12.69 and 0.902 for Cu, 16.67 and 0.68 for Fe, 59.96 and 0.737 for Mn and of 12.14 and 0.869 for Zn, respectively. The prediction capacity of the model and the robustness of the method were checked in the external validation of sertified referent material of Virginia tobacco(CTA-VTL-2) which do not belong to the calibration group. Based on the results, it can be concluded that NIRS technology is an appropriate method for determining the concentration of Pb, Cd and Mn in tobacco.