Study of the feeding effect on recent and ancient bovine bones by nanoparticle-enhanced laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and chemometrics.

This study aimed to exploit laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, enhanced by nanoparticles (NELIBS), as a fast, sensitive and low-cost technique, to correlate the elemental composition of recent and ancient bovine bone with the elemental composition of the fodder that has been fed to the cattle throughout their life. Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (BS-Ag NPs) were used to enhance the emission intensity of the spectral lines in the LIBS spectra of contemporary and ancient bovine bones and fodder samples. The ancient bones are more than 4600 years old and belong to the 3rd dynasty of the old Egyptian Kingdom. Ag NPs were biosynthesized in a simple and inexpensive manner using potato (Solanum tuberosum) extract. As a validation technique for the NELIBS results, EDX spectra were successfully used, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) clearly discriminated between recent and ancient bovine bones. Additionally, principal component analysis (PCA), as a multivariate analysis technique, was used to validate the spectroscopic data for the discrimination between different bone types, as well as between different fodders. According to the obtained results, NELIBS spectroscopy combined with PCA can be used as a reliable, accurate, and fast method for the discrimination between different bones and different fodder types as well as for the assessment of the feeding strategies of livestock. The present work demonstrated the potential of NELIBS technique combined with PCA in the interpretation of the influence of feeding regimes on the contemporary and archaeological bone samples.