Spectrophotometric determination of nitrates and nitrites content in some Egyptian chesses

الملخص EN

A total of 60 samples of Egyptian soft (Dominate cheese), hard (Ras cheese) and processed cheese (20 each) were examined for detection of nitrate and nitrite levels using Spectrophotometer.

The cheeses were evaluated for their safety for human consumption based on the international acceptable permissible limits (APL).

The obtained results revealed that the nitrate content was ranged from 4.9 to 60.3, 4.11 to 22.47 and 10.57 to 37.49, with a mean value of 15.95, 10.43 and 16.74 mg / kg for the examined samples, respectively.

Also, the recorded results revealed that 15 % of examined soft cheese samples only were above the APL.

The nitrite contents were ranged from 0.29 to 4.13, 0.21 to 3.61 and 0.11 to 1.17, with a mean value of 1.52, 1.32 and 0.61 mg / kg for the examined samples, respectively.

Moreover, 25 % of examined soft and hard cheese samples were above the APL.

The results also illustrate that the post-secretory represent a major source of nitrate in hard and processed cheese.

The public health significance of nitrate and nitrite, as a chemical preservative, in cheese is discussed.