pH and nitrate content are two of the key parameters used to measure the quality and safety of food and beverages (F&B). Generally, pH measurements are carried out using pH strips, pH meters, or electrodes, whereas spectrophotometers or electrodes are used for measuring nitrate content. This article examines the use and efficiency of the MQuant® StripScan mobile app to measure the pH of orange juice samples and nitrate concentration of mineral water samples. The results indicate towards the possible use of the MQuant® StripScan mobile app as a viable alternative to more sophisticated and instrument-based methods for pH and nitrate measurements in food and beverage analysis.
Ensuring delivery of quality and safe food and beverage products is critical to the global F&B industry. pH plays an important role in preserving the color, flavor, texture, taste, and nutritional overall value of the product and significantly impacts the quality of final food and beverage product delivered. Moreover, maintaining the proper pH is a food safety issue.1 For instance, keeping the pH of canned or preserved food at 4.6 helps prevent the growth of toxic bacteria, such as Clostridium botulinum.2 Additionally, most microorganisms including bacteria, yeasts, and molds cannot survive or grow under very low or high pH values.
In the food industry, monitoring the pH of raw materials is essential to prevent their deterioration, which in turn, can affect the shelf-life of the final product. For example, in juices and brews, measuring the pH of water before addition in food processing guarantees a good quality and safe end-product.3 This is particularly important when the water source is a municipal water system, where quality can vary considerably over time...
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