Chemical Sciences

Oils and fats obtain metallic contents from soil and from contact equipments used during crushing, processing and storage. Studies have shown that Cu is most harmful metal in edible oils followed by Fe, Mn, Cr and Ni. To measure these ions, costly analytical instruments are being used. The Oil Spectrophotometer developed at CSIO is based on Beer-Lambert law using specific colour developing reagents for each element. The Oil Spectrophotometer is an integrated system for determination of metallic impurities in edible oils and inorganic phosphate-phosphorus. The salient features of the instrument are: Low cost & portable, direct display of concentration in ppm, stable and dedicated reagents, no standards required for calibration, reproducible results, accuracy ± 0.02 ppm for metal ion, ±0.005 ppm for inorganic phosphate. The technology finds applications in detection of metallic ions present in Edible Oils, Water Samples, Pollutants, Metals & Alloys and High Purity Materials as well as inorganic Phosphate-P in Edible Oils, Water Samples, Eutrophication Measurements and in Different Materials.