Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 15 ISSUE 1
Written by Radiana TAMBA-BEREHOIU, Ciprian–Nicolae POPA

The paper aimed to analyze 15 Romanian brands of mineral waters and in this purpose therey were bought from a hypermarket. The content of nitrates, nitrites and pH have been determined for each of the 15 mineral waters using the modern known techniques. A number of two-thirds (66.67%) of the producers did not specify the nitrates content of mineral waters on the label. The firms which mentioned the content of nitrates on the label have not been correct as the tested value of nitrates was higher than the one stated on the label. The mean of nitrates in the tested mineral waters was 5.89 ± 2.88 mg/l, well below the maximum limits (50 mg/l). The fact that most producers do not specify the mineral waters nitrites content, this is not a health issue for consumers, because the research results showed that the presence of nitrites in the Romanian mineral waters is extremely low, somewhere besides the detection limits of the analytical method used. The nitrites content of tested mineral waters was significantly lower in waters with a greater pH. In fact, the increasing the pH of mineral waters by one unit, determined the reducing of nitrites amount by about 32% (r = 0.57 *). As a practical conclusion, consumers could use this criterion in choosing the type of water they want to drink.

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