Determination of Iron Content of Three Common <i>Acacias</i> of Sudan

Abstract

The amount iron content of the extracts and samples of Acacia species was determined. Since the iron hinders the process of retanning leather, iron content is determined by wet digestion method and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The iron contents of bark extract of Acacia nilotica , Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal were 0.0044%, 0.0040% and 0.0029% respectively. In contrast, the iron content of bark extract of the three species of Acacia had lower percentage compared to that of Mimosa ( Acacia mearnsii ) (0.0047%), which was imported from Kenya. The iron content presented in leaves, barks, mature and immature fruits of Acacia species were determined by the same analytical methods. Bark and mature fruits of Acacia nilotica had the highest and equal percentage (0.1 45 0%). The percentage of iron content of leaves and bark of Acacia seyal had equal percentage (0.0750%), while the bark of Acacia senegal had much lower percentage (0.0375%).