Quantitative determination of nitrogen content in plant tissue by a colorimetric method

This study was to evaluate the applicability of a colorimetric method in measuring the nitrogen (N) concentration in samples of vegetable origin. In order to do this, the same samples were analyzed with a colorimetric, and macro- and microKjeldahl methods. The colorimetric method has been used successfully in the determination of N in nutritional studies with rats and humans. The present procedure has the advantage of eliminating the distillation and titration steps of the Kjeldahl method and it is practical for nutritional studies, since many samples can be run in a single day. The N concentration was measured in leaves of two tropical grasses: Paspalum fasciculatum Willd. ex Flugge and Hyparrhenia rufa (Nees) Stapf, and a Standard Reference Material (SRM 1547 Peach Leaves). In all cases, there were no significant difference (P>0.05) in N concentration in these plant materials using the colorimetric, and micro- and macroKjeldahl methods. There was a good agreement between the N concentration of Peach leaves determined by the colorimetric method (2.94%) and the certified N concentration (2.94%). Hyparrhenia rufa, the African grass, and P. fasciculatum, the native species, showed very low N concentration in their leaves, respectively. These results indicate that the colorimetric method, with some light adjustments, is capable of determining the N concentration in plant samples of diverse origin and in very low N levels. The low N concentrations of the grass species suggest the strong limitation imposed by the low soil fertility for the growth and establishment of forage species in tropical savannas.