Kjeldahl Method

Abstract

<div>This method was introduced by Johan Kjeldahl in 1883 for the quantitative</div><div>estimation of nitrogen in a compound which becomes a classical and widely employed</div><div>method in analytical chemistry and has been extensively utilized from over more than</div><div>130 years. The presence of nitrogen in organic compounds and in other protein</div><div>materials was identified by this technique. The amount of protein was calculated from</div><div>the different varieties of material including food for human beings, some fertilizers,</div><div>fossil fuels and other water waste. The process in this method to oxidize the</div><div>compounds containing carbon dioxide or hydrogen atoms are changed in water. The</div><div>ammonium ions are further transformed into ammonia gas when they dissolve in</div><div>oxidized solution. The three step principle was describing the process of nitrogen</div><div>estimation, in which the first step is digestion, which deals with the conversion of</div><div>nitrogen in the food material into ammonia. In second step, the process of</div><div>neutralization started, in which ammonium sulphate changed into ammonia gas. The</div><div>third last step of titration was started and a suitable indicator was used to detect the end</div><div>point of reaction. The first step in the procedure of this method is digestion and this</div><div>process was done for at least 60-90 minutes. The second step deals with the distillation</div><div>process in which the nitrogen is separated and the third step deals with the titration in</div><div>the presence of acid and this will give us the determination of ammonia compound in</div><div>the sample. In this chapter, we highlight the basic fundamentals, principle, procedure,</div><div>applications and also recent advancements were covered.</div>

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