Infrared enthalpymetric methods: A new, fast and simple alternative for sodium determination in food sauces.

This work developed a new technique and an application of an existing approach to determine sodium in food sauces, involving enthalpimetric reactions in the infrared. Infrared Thermometric Titration (TT-IR) was utilized, with simple analyzers and low-cost measurement instruments for the acquisition of the surface temperature generated in the sodium precipitation reaction and development of software for the acquisition and processing of data using Raspberry Pi. The sodium was also quantified by Thermal Infrared Enthalpimetry (TIE), a recently developed technique. The rapid and simple quantification of sodium by the TT-IR and TIE showed the possibility of a selective reaction for sodium, using aluminum nitrate, potassium and ammonium fluoride in an acid medium, with reduction of the reagents and without the digestion step in the sample preparation. The results acquired through TT-IR and TIE corroborated the Flame Atomic Emission Spectrometry (FAES) with 96 to 103% and 95 to 102%, respectively.

Flow thermal infrared enthalpimetry: Rapid and inexpensive determination of the alcohol content of distilled beverages.

In this work, a simple and inexpensive flow thermal infrared enthalpimetry (TIE-F) method was developed through a combination of flow injection analysis and thermal infrared enthalpimetry (TIE) to determine the alcohol content of distilled beverages (cachaça, cognac, and vodka). The principle used in this method consisted of monitoring the enthalpy of dissolution of ethanol through a low-cost infrared sensor coupled to a flow system. The results showed an agreement between the proposed method and the conventional method, ranging from 96.5% to 99.0%. The obtained limit of quantification (LOQ, 10σ) of 25.10% (v/v) was enough for distilled beverages, which should present a minimum alcoholic content of 36% according to Brazilian legislation. In addition, the TIE-F instrumentation presented costs that were 100 times lower than the instrumentation that was used in the batch TIE, and the time of analysis was significantly reduced. The amount of residue generated was also reduced, thereby providing significant energy savings and easy adaptation to processes on industrial scales.