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Updated: May 4, 2026

Measuring Nitrite and Nitrate, Metabolites in the Nitric Oxide Pathway, in Biological Materials using the Chemiluminescence Method
Published on: December 25, 2016
A sensitive colorimetric method for the determination of nitrite in water supplies, meat and dairy products using
Haijuan Zhang1, Shengda Qi1, Yalei Dong1
1State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Abstract:
This paper describes a colorimetric approach to determine trace amounts of nitrite in water supplies, meat and dairy products using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium-modified methyl red ([BMIM]MR) as a colour reagent. The technique capitalises on the catalytic effect of nitrite on the oxidative degradation of [BMIM]MR by potassium bromate in acidic media. The absorbances were proportional to nitrite concentrations in the range of 8.70×10(-2) to 4.17 μM with a detection limit of 1.64×10(-2) μM. Compared with the method using methyl red as a colour reagent, 60 times improvement of sensitivity was obtained. Activation energy and the apparent rate constant for the catalytic reaction are 61.11 kJ mol(-1) and 1.18×10(4) s(-1), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the analysis of nitrite in Yellow River water, chicken, and milk with recoveries ranging from 96% to 105%.
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