Development of a low-cost equipment alternative to the Kjeldahl distiller for the determination of total volatile basic nitrogen

The determination of the total volatile basic nitrogen content in fish is a method of assessing food quality that is typically carried out using the Kjeldahl distiller. The objective of this project was to develop an alternative equipment configuration to replace the Kjeldahl distillation apparatus. The results obtained are promising, as the ammonia extraction achieved 98% efficiency and the TVB-N content and relative standard deviation were 31.0 mg N per 100 g and 11.6%, respectively. The same samples studied using the traditional method showed TVB-N content and relative standard deviation of 32.5 mg N per 100 g and 12.4%, respectively. It can be concluded that the newly developed low-cost equipment can be useful for determining TVB-N without compromising the results of routine analyses previously obtained exclusively through the Kjeldahl method for evaluating fish quality. In addition, the alternative equipment is safer and allows for a higher analytical frequency compared to the Kjeldahl distiller.