Perpustakaan Digital ITB

Due to its ability to inhibit microbial growth, nitrite is commonly added into meat products as preservative. However, this food additive may be harmful to human health when its exposure exceeds its acceptable daily intake (ADI). This situation could occur when the concentration of nitrite in a food product is higher than the maximum level permitted by regulation. The aim of this research was to obtain an analytical method for determination of nitrite in chicken nuggets by means of visible spectrophotometry. The samples were prepared by means of extraction and precipitation methods to minimize matrix interferences during measurement. In the next step, nitrite was reacted with sulfanilic acid and N-1-napthyl-ethylenediaminedihydrochloride (NEDA) to produce a pink to magenta colored reaction product which absorbed visible radiation with the maximum wavelength of 546 nm. The method was validated based on various parameters including linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), accuracy, and precision. Standard solutions of nitrites in the range of 0.133 ? 1.200 ppm gave a linear calibration curve with the regression equation of Y = 0.5857X ? 0.0115 and R2 value of 0.9969. LOD and LOQ of the method were 0.049 and 0.108 ppm, respectively. Accuracy testing resulted in percentage recoveries in the range of 94.705% - 110.799% with acceptance criteria from 80% - 120%, while precision testing results expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) within the range of 0.209% - 8.473% with an acceptance criterion of RSD ? 11%. Application of this method to the real sample resulted in nitrite level in the range of 0.040 ? 0.044 ppm which is below the LOD and LOQ values, therefore could be reported as not detected (ND). Based on overall results it was concluded, that the method for the determination of nitrite in chicken nugget was successfully obtained, and the nitrite levels in the tested nugget sample were not more than the regulatory limit.