Review: Flow injection analysis–a new technique for food and beverage analysis

Flow injection analysis affords a means of automating many traditional wet chemical methods of food and beverage analysis, and introducing new methods which have no conventional analogue. In this technique, reactions are carried out in a continuous flow mode and it is not necessary for a state of chemical equilibrium to be reached. Therefore, analyses using standard or official chemistries may be achieved in very short times (typically 30 sec). This review outlines the principles, instrumentation and techniques of flow injection analysis and considers the scope of its actual and potential applications in food and beverage analysis.