Sulfur content of plant material: A comparison of methods of oxidation prior to determination

Abstract

Procedures for S determination involving digestion of plant material with HNO₃/HClO₄ mixtures gave lower values than those using oxygen flask combustion. Tests on a range of S compounds showed that the HNO₃/HClO₄ procedure underestimated S present in methionine, cysteine and glutathione but S in sulfate and the glucosinolate, sinigrin, was not underestimated.

Low recoveries using HNO₃/HClO₄ digestion procedures can be due both to incomplete oxidation of certain compounds and to gaseous losses during the vigorous boiling stage of digestion.