Thermo Fisher Scientific Facilitates Fast, Reproducible and Automatic Nitrogen Determination in Soils and Plants
Thermo Fisher Scientific Facilitates Fast, Reproducible and Automatic Nitrogen Determination in Soils and Plants
MILAN, Italy (July 28, 2010) - Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced a new application note for providing rapid, automatic and reproducible quantitative determination of nitrogen in soils and plants with the Thermo Scientific FLASH 4000 nitrogen/protein analyzer. The application note, entitled "Nitrogen Determination in Soils and Plants by the Thermo Scientific FLASH 4000 Elemental Analyzer," is available to download at http://www.thermoscientific.com/App-Note-43030
Nitrogen content in soils is an important evaluation parameter of organic matter. The analyses of nitrogen content provide valuable information regarding the deficiency or excess of nutritional elements important to plant growth. Nitrogen content analysis is also essential when determining the quality of various types of crops for feeding and processing, as well as for N-cycle and N-fixation monitoring in agricultural and environmental research.
For maximum analytical performance, nitrogen content determination in soils and plants must be performed using accurate instrumental analytical techniques while also avoiding the use of toxic chemicals. To achieve this, the classic Kjeldahl method has been replaced by the Dumas combustion method, a simple and automatic technique that does not require sample digestion of toxic chemicals and facilitates faster analysis combined with excellent reproducibility. The FLASH 4000 is based on the Dumas combustion method, providing significant advantages over the Kjeldahl method including laboratory staff safety, improved sample throughput, automation, reduced operational costs and quantitative determination of nitrogen in a large range of concentrations.
The new application note details the analytical configuration and analytical conditions required to achieve rapid, safe and reliable nitrogen content determination in soil and plant samples. The correct quantity of oxygen, correlated to the weight and type of sample, is determined automatically by the OxyTuneTM feature of Thermo Scientific Eager Xperience software which facilitates the complete combustion of the sample.
Experimental results demonstrate excellent reproducibility and no memory effect when changing the type of sample, indicating the complete detection of the nitrogen present in the sample. The FLASH 4000 is able to analyze nitrogen in a wide range of samples from low to high content without matrix effects. In addition, the nitrogen data obtained using the analyzer is within the tolerable levels set by WEPAL International Round Robin Tests, demonstrating the high-performance of the instrument.
Thermo Scientific is part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science.
About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) is the world leader in serving science. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. With revenues of more than $10 billion, we have approximately 35,000 employees and serve customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions and government agencies, as well as in environmental and process control industries. We create value for our key stakeholders through two premier brands, Thermo Scientific and Fisher Scientific, which offer a unique combination of continuous technology development and the most convenient purchasing options. Our products and services help accelerate the pace of scientific discovery, and solve analytical challenges ranging from complex research to routine testing to field applications. Visit www.thermofisher.com
For more information about the Thermo Scientific FLASH 4000 nitrogen/protein analyzer, please call +1 800-532-4752,
email analyze@thermofisher.com or
visit http://www.thermoscientific.com/flash4000
For further press information please contact:
Celine Callender,
The Scott Partnership,
1 Whiteside,
Station Road,
Holmes Chapel,
Cheshire CW4 8AA,
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 1477 539 539
Fax: +44 1477 539 540
E-mail: thermo@scottpr.com
Secondary Contact Information:
Karen Rattray
+44 1606 548716
karen.rattray@thermofisher.com
