[The problem of nitrate and nitrite in human food. II. The occurrence of nitrate, nitrite, and thiocyanate in human saliva (author's transl)].

When the alimentary nitrate intake is in the range of 50 mg NO3- the nitrate values in saliva of adults and children follow a Gaussian normal distribution. With high and very high nitrate intakes the individual fluctuations of nitrate in saliva are distributed randomly in a wide range with a factor of 1:4. The nitrite values in saliva fluctuate even more, so that a proper judgment should be made only in individual cases. The average content of thiocyanate in saliva of adults was found to be 134 ppm SCN-, the saliva of children contained 50 ppm SCN-. The estimated molecular ratio of thiocyanate to nitrite in saliva of adults and children may fluctuate between 8:1 and 1:1 depending on the nitrate content of food.