Sodium Analyzer Without Sample Prep
Fast Sodium Analysis in Food and Liquids
The Turbospec 400 is a compact, portable analyzer for rapid sodium analysis in food, brines, and other liquids. For most samples, the sodium analysis is simple and requires no sample preparation other than introducing about 1 mL of sample into a tube and inserting the tube into the analyzer. For solid samples, the solid can be extracted into water and the liquid component is analyzed.
This compact sodium analyzer for food and liquids quickly measures sodium using a single calibration standard. The system is also portable weighing less than 18 lbs.
Sodium is an important nutrient in our diet and must be carefully controlled during the manufacturing process. This sodium analyzer for food and liquids can quickly provide a sodium concentration in less than a minute, with absolutely no dilution or manipulation of the sample, and without any consumable reagents.
How it works
This sodium analyzer uses magnetic resonance to directly quantify the content of sodium in the sample. The signal response of sodium is linear with the concentration, allowing it to be easily calibrated using a single standard solution of sodium chloride. It can be calibrated in molarity, wt %, or ppm.
Will it work for us?
Seeing is believing—we are happy to perform risk-free demonstrations at your location. In certain cases, we can leave the unit for further testing.
We are always testing products
Here are some sample tests run on store bought products and comparison to the food label. In most cases, the measured level of sodium is less than the content on the label. Think of the food label being a “not to exceed” content as opposed to a certificate of analysis.
Taking the sodium content from the Nutritional Facts label for a single serving, we calculated the “Molarity” based on assuming a density of 1.00. For example, a national sports drink had 270 mg of sodium in a 591 mL bottle. The calculated sodium concentration was 0.27 g / 22.99 g/mol / 0.591 L for a sodium concentration of 0.0199 M. A 40 second measurement of a 0.5 mL sample of the sports drink was 0.0194 M. Again, the label is not a certificate of analysis, so the result of the Turbospec was very close to the theoretical value of the label.
| Sodium Content (g) | Serving Size (g|mL) | Conc. (M) | Measured (M) | Difference (C-M) | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sports Drink | 0.27 | 591 | 0.020 | 0.019 | 0.000 | |
| BBQ Sauce | 0.29 | 37 | 0.341 | 0.384 | -0.043 | |
| Yellow Mustard | 0.055 | 5 | 0.478 | 0.393 | 0.085 | |
| Marinara Sauce | 0.49 | 120 | 0.170 | 0.114 | 0.056 | |
| Cocktail Sauce | 0.6 | 60 | 0.435 | 0.395 | 0.040 | |
| Ketchup | 0.19 | 16 | 0.335 | -0.335 | ||
| Ranch Dressing | 0.26 | 30 | 0.377 | 0.317 | 0.060 | |
| Yellow Mustard | 0.06 | 5 | 0.522 | 0.401 | 0.120 | |
| Slaw Dressing | 0.28 | 33 | 0.369 | 0.390 | -0.021 | |
| Mayo | 0.095 | 14 | 0.295 | 0.286 | 0.009 | |
| Catalina Dressing | 0.34 | 33 | 0.448 | 0.453 | -0.005 | |
| Marinara Trad. | 0.49 | 125 | 0.170 | 0.121 | 0.050 | |
| Pasta Sauce | 0.48 | 125 | 0.167 | 0.102 | 0.065 | |
| Spaghetti | 0.77 | 411 | 0.081 | 0.112 | -0.030 | |
| Beef Consomme | 0.79 | 120 | 0.286 | 0.278 | 0.008 | |
| Chicken Noodle | 0.41 | 120 | 0.149 | 0.152 | -0.004 | |
| Tomato Soup | 0.41 | 120 | 0.149 | 0.124 | 0.025 | |
| Soy Sauce (red) | 0.256 | 10 | 1.113 | 1.064 | 0.049 | 4 mL diluted to 10 mL total volume |
| Soy Sauce (green) | 0.23 | 10 | 1.000 | 0.916 | 0.084 | 1 mL diluted to 10 mL total volume |
| Solid Samples | ||||||
| Olive Brine | 0.695 | |||||
| Olive (homog.) | 0.96 | 100 | 0.417 | 0.153 | 12 olives, 4 servings | |
| Olive (extract) | 0.96 | 100 | 0.417 | 0.243 | ||
| Pickle Brine | 0.247 | |||||
| Pickle (homog.) | 1.32 | 105 | 18 pickles, 6 servings | |||
| Pickle (extract) | 1.32 | 105 | 0.547 | 0.130 | ||
| Peppers Brine | 0.510 | |||||
Sample Results
Most of the samples in the table were measured directly by introducing the material into a tube and inserting the tube into the sample chamber and pressing the SCAN button.
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In many cases the serving size was given in mass as opposed to volume, so some liberties were taken by assuming the density was 1.00 g/mL. Admittedly this creates a bias in comparing the label copy to the measured result, but overall the measurements showed the expected under-estimation or were very close to the label estimate.
Special Sample Prep
For the brined samples, olives, pickles and peppers, a large sample of the product was removed from the brine and dried on a paper towel. A multiple of 3-4 serving sizes were put in a Ninja food blender and 100 mL of water was added to the sample. The mass of the olives, pickles or peppers were ignored in the sodium concentration, it was treated as simply adding the mass of sodium to 100 mL of water. The samples were blended thoroughly for 1 minute and both the homogenate and the extract (filtered homogenate) were measured. The extract was filtered through a paper filter in a disposable pipette.
Brined Sample Results
In all cases the sodium content of the brine was significantly higher than the sodium content in either the homogenate or the extract. All of the sodium levels were well below the suggested levels of sodium. Also remarkable was the measured differences between the homogenate and extract signifying different levels of brine permeation in the product.