Nitrate is reduced by means of a cadmium reducer and spectrophotometrically determined in the form of nitrite by a diazotisation reaction. The results obtained by application of the described method to tobacco extracts correspond well to those resulting from the earlier described dimethylphenol procedure. Owing to its better sensitivity and specifity the reduction method is particularly suitable for the quantitative analysis of smallest amounts of nitrate. Quantities of 0.03 % of nitrate can be determined without difficulties. The inferior limit of detection is 0.001 %.