Simple determination of nitrate in soils by second‐derivative spectroscopy

Abstract

SUMMARY A new and simple method for nitrate analysis in soil extracts and soil solution is described. The method uses the second derivative of the direct ultra‐violet (UV) spectrum, available from most microprocessor‐controlled spectrophotometers with a UV source. Results with the proposed method were similar to those obtained by the cadmium‐reduction column and ion‐chromatographic methods. The main advantages of the proposed technique are that it is simple, rapid, accurate and requires no sample pre‐treatment, making it useful for routine analysis of large numbers of samples.