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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Measuring Nitrite and Nitrate, Metabolites in the Nitric Oxide Pathway, in Biological Materials using the Chemiluminescence Method
Published on: December 25, 2016
Spectrophotometric determination of nitrite in foodstuffs by flow injection analysis
J F Van Staden1, M A Makhafola
1Department of Chemistry, University of Pretoria, 0002, Pretoria, South Africa.
Abstract:
A simple method for the determination of nitrite in foodstuffs by flow injection analysis is described. Nitrite samples are prepared in a microwave oven, treated with a 1 mol/l NH(4)Cl solution at a pH of 9 (all under nitrogen atmosphere) and are immediately analysed. Nitrite is diazotised in the FIA system with N-(1-naphthyl) ethylenediammonium dichloride to form the highly coloured azo dye, which is measured at 540 nm. The detection limit is 0.036 mg/kg for sample injections of 400 microl. The sampling rate is about 50 samples per hour and the relative standard deviation is 0.67%.

