Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXV, Issue 2
Written by Andrei MOȚ, Violeta Alexandra ION, Roxana Maria MADJAR, Liliana BĂDULESCU
Nitrogen is one of the most important component of fertilizers. Quantifying nitrogen, along with other elements, is an essential operation for calculating the efficiency of these inputs. Because Romanian regulations doesn’t provide any methodology for determining nitrogen from inputs used in organic agriculture, each laboratory uses its own method for these determinations. This study presents a fast and efficient dry combustion method of determining the total nitrogen from organic inputs, using a CHNS elemental analyzer (Eurovector EA 3100). This Automated Pregl-Dumas technique is a very good alternative to the classic Kjeldahl method, which has several drawbacks: it does not quantify nitrogen from nitrates (although fertilizers contain a large amount of nitrogen in this form), needs a longer time for the sample to be analysed, it is not environmental friendly, and has lower accuracy of the results. To ensure the quality of the results, the necessary parameters for the validation of this method were calculated according to international guidelines, and the acceptance criteria of results were verified based on certified reference materials.
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