ZELALEM TALACHEW2026-02-042024-11https://etd.hu.edu.et/handle/123456789/638Teff [Eragrostis teff (Zuccagni) Trotter] is one of the major and indigenous cereal crops in Ethiopia. Teff is a staple food in Ethiopia, consisting of two-thirds of their cereal diet and is mainly used to make human food. Although Teff is farmed for its grain, the straw is also used to build homes in both rural and urban areas, to reinforce mud or plaster, and as feed for cattl. The levels of selected essential and non-essential metals in the white, red, and mixed teff grains collected from Yilmana Densa Woreda, West Gojam Zone (Ethiopia) were determined by AAS equipped with deuterium background corrector and air-acetylene flame atomizer. After a suitable sample pretreatment, the powdered teff was wet digested with the acid mixture (8 mL HNO3:2 mL H2O2) at 180 oC for 3:00 h over wet digestion block. The accuracy of the optimized procedure was evaluated by analyzing the digest of the spiked samples with a standard solution of metals, and the percentage recoveries varied from 99 % to 113%. The mean concentrations of metals determined (mg/kg, dry weight) were in the ranges of Fe (632-761) > Mn (191-516) > Zn (87-168) > Cu (75-112) > Ni (4.15-10.81) > Co (5.36-7.15) > Cr (3.93-5.15) > Pb (1.14-2.26). A statistical analysis of variance indicated that there is significant difference between the mean concentrations of all metals (Co, Cr, Pb Ni, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) with (P < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval) between the different types of teff samples. . The concentrations of the metals showed that the red teff samples collected from fetlo kuskaum have higher amounts of Fe and Cu, compared to that of the white and mixed teff samples. The mixed teff samples collected from Kililt has higher amounts of Fe, Mn and Zn, compared to that of the red and white teff samples.The amount of essential metals is high in red teff samples at Fetillo Kuskuam and in mixed teff at Kililt. The presence of significant differences may be due to the presence of different geographical distribution, rainfall, soil composition, harvesting, and storing methods.Teff grainEssential metalsNon-essential metalsEthiopiasample digestionThesis