Nitrates are salts of nitric acid, which are abundant in the environment, such as soil or water. Nitrogen is the basis of plant nutrition, including vegetables.
Natural nitrates are formed in nature in two ways: due to rotting organic residues and oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen during lightning discharges or under the action of solar radiation. Plants and bacteria that live in the soil in symbiosis, participate in the giant process of the nitrogen cycle in nature.

Nitrogen is an essential element for all lifeforms. Nitrogen plays an important role in the processes of photosynthesis, metabolism, the formation of new cells, because it is part of proteins, nucleic acids, chlorophyll, hemoglobin, vitamins. Bacteria oxidize nitrogen to nitrates, which for its part are converted to nitrites. Under the action of bacteria, nitrites are converted into nitrogen, which re-enters the atmosphere.

Nitrogen is indispensable in the formation of soil cover, in increasing agricultural productivity and improving human protein nutrition. Nitrogen enters the soil with various types of fertilizers, plant residues, rainwater. Nitrates are part of many fertilizers, such as potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, as well as many of them in the decay products of organic matter, industrial and municipal waste. They can accumulate in water and food.

Nitrates are naturally found in all vegetables, berries and fruits.
It is necessary to control nitrate amount in food. There are a huge number of nitratometers on the market, which give erroneous values, as they work on the principle of measuring the resistance of salts in the product. This method does not allow to qualitatively determine the amount of nitrates, so our team conducted research and concluded on the photometric use to develop a compact portable device that allows a large number of analyses for various factors of product quality, not just nitrates.