Development of a cost-effective method for nitrate and nitrite determination in leafy plants and nitrate and nitrite contents of some green leafy vegetables grown in the Aegean region of Turkey.

An accurate, fast, easily applicable, and cost-effective method for the determination of nitrate and nitrite was developed. This method was much more reliable than the cadmium column reduction method, which is a tedious and time-consuming procedure and not easily applicable. The principle of the method was reduction of nitrate to nitrite with cadmium acetate solution and zinc powder and then treatment with Griess reagent. Recovery of the method changed from 92.9 to 102.8%, and detection limit was found as 31.4 mg/kg. Coefficient of variation was 3.16% for intraday precision. Nitrate and nitrite contents of 10 types of leafy vegetables native to the Aegean region of Turkey were determined. Wild radish, chicory, fennel, blessed thistle, blue mallow, and chard were analyzed for the first time. Nitrate contents were found between 354.8 mg/kg for iceberg lettuce and 4653 mg/kg for wild radish. Tested vegetables contained <26.33 mg/kg nitrite.