Application of principal component analysis to the study of major cations and trace metals in fish from Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Trace metals and major cations (Cu, Zn, Fe, Na, K, Ca and Mg) were determin ed in fish Chromis limbatus by name and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The application of principal component analysis and factor an alysis to the data matrix seems to discriminate between major cations and t race metals, accounting for 80% of the total variability. The plot of the s cores of metals in the muscle samples on the first two principal components pointed out a differentiation of two groups belonging to different seasons . Cluster analysis (K-nearest neighbor) confirmed the separation between th e two season's groups of samples. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.