A Plan for the Rapid Determination of the Major Cations in Milk

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Abstract
A rapid method for determination of the major cations in milk is proposed which involves the preparation of a milk serum by acid precipitation and followed by treatment with an anion exchange resin to eliminate interfering ions. The serum is directly analyzed for Na, K, and Ca content, using the flame photometer. Total Ca and Mg content is determined by versenate titration and Mg content is obtained by difference. This method eliminates the necessity for ashing or wet digestion. When the technique is compared with the ashing procedure for sample preparation, the variance observed in the Na, K, Ca, and Mg content of milk does not exceed the accuracy required in most analytical work. With this procedure standard deviations for various ions are: Na, 0.124 meq/1 or 0.70%; K, 0.157 meq/l or 0.42%; Ca, 0.191 meq/l or 0.33%; and Mg, 0.179 meq/l or 1.97%. Protein free milk dialysates can be satisfactorily analyzed with this plan.

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