Abstract: Sulfite concentration is detected by low pressure ion chromatography (LPIC) with chemiluminescence due to thefact that hypoxanthine can sensitize the depression effect of sulfite on luminol- KMnO4 chemiluminescence reaction. The linerrange of sulfite concentration under optimal conditions is 5×10-8～4.8×10-6mol/L (r=0.9977)with a detection limit of 3.2×10-8mol/L, and RSD as 3.25% by assaying 5×10-7mol/L for five times. This simple, rapid and sensitive method is successfullyapplied to sulfite determination in food samples.

Key words: sulfite, low pressure ion chromatography, chemiluminescence