In situ determination of urea in milk employing a portable and low-cost LED photometer

Abstract

A low-cost and portable LED photometer was developed and applied for the in situ determination of urea in milk. The determination was based on Berthelot’s reaction. After optimization, the best experimental variables, the detection limit and quantification limit were 1.8 × 10^−4 and 8.0 × 10^−4 mol L^−1, respectively. The percentage recovery varied between 95.6 and 105%. The paired t test was performed for the cow and goat milk determination and the results agreed at a 95% level of confidence for the in situ determination. Supported by the results, the analytical method based on LED photometer demonstrated that it can be employed for urea determination in food production for quality purpose, and small rural producers can evaluate the quality of herd feeding due to the easy handling, portability, fast instrumental response, and low cost of the materials used.