Application Note

Hydrogen Peroxide in Yogurt

Colorimetric determination of peroxide residues

Introduction
Peroxide is widely used as a disinfectant in many industries, e.g. in food and
dairy industry. To make sure that the final products are not contaminated
with peroxide residues from the production equipment, MQuant® Peroxide
test strips can be used not only to test the rinsing fluids but the product
itself. This low-priced and easy-to-use analytical detection system provides
reliable quantification of the samples.
The following application note describes the determination of hydrogen
peroxide in yogurt using the MQuant® peroxide test strips.

Experimental

Method
Peroxide oxidizes an organic redox indicator to form a blue oxidation product, which is then detected
colorimetrically.

Measuring range
There are two tests with different measuring ranges available:
• 0.5 - 2 - 5 - 10 - 25 mg/l H2O2 (Cat. No. 110011)
• 1 - 3 - 10 - 30 - 100 mg/l H2O2 (Cat. No. 110081)

Sample material
Yogurt

Reagents, Instruments and Materials:

Reagents
Cat. No. 110011 MQuant® Peroxide Test 0.5 - 2 - 5 - 10 - 25 mg/l H2O2
Cat. No. 110081 MQuant® Peroxide Test 1 - 3 - 10 - 30 - 100 mg/l H2O2
Cat. No. 116754 Water for analysis or distilled water

Analytical approach

Sample preparation
Homogenize sample by shaking thoroughly.

The life science business of Merck

operates as MilliporeSigma in the
U.S. and Canada.
Measurement
For analysis, follow this procedure:
• Immerse the reaction zone of the test strip in the yogurt (15–30 °C) for 1 second.
• Rinse any remaining yogurt from the reaction zone with distilled water and allow any excess water
to run off onto an absorbent paper towel.
• After 15 seconds (Cat. No. 110011) or, respectively, after 5 seconds (Cat. No. 110081) determine
with which color field on the label the color of the reaction zone coincides most exactly.
• Read off the corresponding result in mg/l H2O2.

Note
Due to the composition of the Peroxide Test, Cat. No. 110081, constituents in the yogurt – such as e.g.
vanilla – can cause a discoloration of the test zone. In this case, as an alternative the Peroxide Test, Cat.
No. 110011, should be used.

Results
The method was verified by spiking experiments. For this purpose, the samples were spiked with five
different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide.

Cat. No. 110011 (measured in a vanilla yogurt):

Spiking (mg/l H2O2) read-off (mg/l H2O2)

0 0
0.5 0.5
2 2
5 5
10 10
20 10-25
Spiking performed with H2O2 30% (Cat. No.107209)

Cat. No. 110081 (measured in plain yogurt):

Spiking (mg/l H2O2) read-off (mg/l H2O2)

0 0
1 1
3 3
10 10
30 30
100 100
Spiking performed with H2O2 30% (Cat. No.107209)

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Conclusion
The MQuant® peroxide strips are a quick and easy way to analyze the peroxide values in yogurt.

For more information

• MQuant® Test Strips see www.sigmaaldrich.com/mquant
• Applications see www.sigmaaldrich.com/wfa-applications

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