Comparison of calorimetric and HPLC methods in measuring nitrate content of meat products: An economic evaluation
2014
M moradi | K SHarafi | S Delangizan | S Jamshidpoor
Nitrate is a flavors compound, color stabilizer and growth inhibitor of anaerobic microorganisms in meat products. High concentration of nitrate in food can cause methaemoglobinaemia and is recognized as carcinogenic. Therefore, accurate determination of nitrate is crucial to ensure consumers’ health. Regularly, nitrate is estimated by colorimetric and HPLC methods. In measurement of nitrate, the efficiency, accuracy, speed and amount of material are important from economical point of view. In this study, the cost of initial investment, staff, consumable material and equipments used by the two methods were calculated and finally Net Present Value (NPV) was estimated for each of them. The rate of interest was considered from 4 until 30%. According to the results the amount of initial investment, annual cost of staff and consumable materials for colorimetric method were determined as 274000000, 379080000 and 214289130 Rials, respectively. These costs for HPLC method were 342000000, 252720000 and 7633080 Rials, respectively. NPV in minimum and maximum rates of interest (4 and 30%) for colorimetric method were 8368344000 and 2242330000 Rials and for HPLC method were estimated at 4035848000 and 1207544000 Rials. As a consequence, HPLC is more economical and could be recommended for the routine measurement of nitrate in of food safety laboratories.
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