Determination of Total Nitrogen in Plant Tissue, Using a Block Digestor

Abstract The determination of total nitrogen in plant tissue using a Technicon BD-40 digestor provided one of the best analytical tools for Kjeldahl digestion. The method is rapid and precise and utilizes the minimum laboratory space for such operations. The ammonia found is determined using the automated continuous flow methodology of an AutoAnalyzer. Up to 300 samples/day may be analyzed with a single system. Recovery of added nitrogen was 100.9±4.1%. Comparison with AOAC method 2.049 gave an average difference of 0.02% nitrogen for 8 plant tissues.