S Ali, Mohammad S N Rana.
Spectrophotometric Determination of Nicotine in Different Varieties of Tobacco.
Pak J Health Jan ;36(1-2):27-35.

The work reported in this thesis was carried out to determine the percentage of nicotine in different varieties of tobacco by spectrophotometric technique using Alizarin as colour producing reagent. It was found that nicotine reacts with Alizarin to give pink colour, after heating at 90-100°C for 60 seconds. The resulting colour shows maximum absorbance at 520530 mm and 1mcg/ml as visual limit of identification. The reaction is specific for nicotine and it provides a base for a new spectrophotometric method for the determination of nicotine from various tobacco products (Cigarettes, Cigars, and crude tobacco etc.) in minute quantities. Beer`s Law is valid between the concentration range of 0.01 - 1mg / 10 ml. The colour is stable for more than 24 hours. Maximum amounts of various Organic Compounds not interfering during the determination of nicotine are also reported. Ten samples of tobacco were analyzed and the results showed that all samples contained high amount of nicotine, which exceeds the fatal dose of nicotine i.e., 40-60 mg for an adult. The highest amount of nicotine was found in Rustica-9 i.e., 3.10 g / 100 g and the lowest amount of nicotine was found in Speight G108 i.e., 1.69g/100g.

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