Most of element detection analytical techniques require the use of liquid samples and the main way to convert a solid sample to a suitable solution is by means digestion methods. In this sense, the sample preparation/digestion is still the bottleneck of most analytical protocols. Although extraction approaches could also be applied, the extract may contain several compounds that can cause interferences when spectrometric detection techniques are used. Thus, taking into account the special features of microwave-based sample digestion methods, such as efficiency, low risk of losses and contamination, high sample throughput, among others, the microwave radiation is still the state of the art among the digestion methods. Although microwave-assisted digestion (MAD) and, in the last 20 years, the microwave-induced combustion (MIC) systems provide great digestion efficiency, their use may be limited by the relatively high cost of acquisition and maintenance. Recently, microwave-induced combustion in disposable vessels (MIC-DV) was developed as a miniaturized and low-cost alternative for conventional MIC. MIC-DV consists of the sample combustion in polypropylene (PP) vessels (instead of quartz vessels from MIC) purged or pressurized with oxygen which are placed in a domestic microwave oven. After digestion (achieved in less than 1 min), the analyte determination can be directly performed by introducing the digest into the detection technique directly from the combustion vessel without a dilution step. These interesting features make the MIC-DV method a good alternative for sample digestion of several matrices, as recently shown in the literature. In this way, recent applications will be presented comparing the developments of MIC-DV with the main digestion systems available in the literature.

 References
1. F. A. Duarte, S. R. Waechter, M. F. P., R. B. Pardinho, E. M. M. Flores, J. S. Barin, Anal. Chem. 2020; 92: 8058-8063.
2. S. R. Waechter, P. Dalla Vecchia, J. S. Barin, E. M. M. Flores, F. A. Duarte, Talanta 2021; 226: 122157.
3. J. S. Mandlate, A. S. Henn, P. A. Mello, E. M. M. Flores, J. S. Barin, F. A. Duarte, Anal. Chim. Acta 2023; 1273: 341536.
4. P. C. Crestani, T. C. Pereira, E. T. F. Larruscain, C. R. Laureano, E. M. M. Flores, F. A. Duarte, Food Chem. 2023; 429: 136916.
5. D. T. Gomes, L. C. Brudi, A. P. Holkem, P. A. Mello, M. F. Mesko, F. A. Duarte, Microchem. J. 2023; 195: 109376.