Ninhydrin-based spectrophotometric assays of trace cyanide

Abstract

Abstract The extreme toxicity of cyanide, its wide industrial application as well as its continued illegal use generate research interest in different fields of science, imposing multidisciplinary approach to study cyanide poisoning. We show here that the reaction between cyanide and ninhydrin can be performed at ambient conditions; however, the ninhydrin reagent has to be freshly prepared in oxygen free solvent. Besides, we show that the reading of the absorbance at 485 nm might be more suitable and reliable than that at 590 nm, where the pH-dependent blue colored cyanide-ninhydrin adduct is less stable. Ninhydrin-based color reagent can be used to quantify the cyanide released from plant seeds. In sodium carbonate medium, the proposed assay is fast, cheap and environmentally friendly