A critical evaluation of digestion procedures for coffee samples using diluted nitric acid in closed vessels for inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry.

The efficiency of diluted nitric acid solutions for digesting regular coffee samples was evaluated employing two closed vessel procedures: one was based on microwave-assisted heating and the other was based on conductive heating using pressurized Parr bomb. The efficiency of digestion was evaluated by determining residual carbon content (RCC) and residual acidity. The digestion was effective using both procedures, i.e. there were no solid residues after the decomposition reactions when using up to 3.5 mol L(-1) nitric acid solutions. It was demonstrated that the digestion procedures are critically dependent on reactions occurring in liquid and gas phase and that the formation of NO and its conversion to NO2 by O2 exerts a major effect in the oxidation of organic matter. These processes are more effective in closed vessels heated by microwave radiation due to the greater volume of these flasks and the temperature gradient that exists during the first step of the digestion process. The proposed model for the digestion processes in diluted nitric acid solution is corroborated by data about consumption of acid during the digestion and by measuring the pressure during the whole process.

Optimisation of focused-microwave assisted digestion procedure for Kjeldahl nitrogen determination in bean samples by factorial design and Doehlert design.

In the present paper a focused-microwave Kjeldahl digestion procedure without metal catalyst for nitrogen determination in bean samples was developed. Temperature at which the decomposition plateau occurs, mass of potassium sulphate and either volume of sulphuric acid or hydrogen peroxide were optimised. Results of the two-level full factorial design (2(4)) based on an analysis of variance demonstrated that only the decomposition plateau temperature and the sulphuric acid volume were statistically significant. Optimal conditions for the digestion of bean samples were obtained by using Doehlert design. The modified digestion procedure of 0.25g of bean samples has been performed in 27min at optimised conditions. The accuracy of the developed procedure by the analysis of the two certified reference materials, peach leaves (NIST 1547) and apple leaves (NIST 1515). The t-test applied to the results revealed that they are in agreement (p > 0.05) with the certified values. The precision, expressed as relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was of 0.96% for four successive Kjeldahl nitrogen determinations. In addition, interlaboratory exercises were performed with several bean samples in reference Brazilian food control laboratory.