A new method which combines Fourier-transform smoothing with ratio spectra derivative spectrophotometry has been developed for analysis of binary and ternary mixtures. The method proposed has been applied to the simultaneous determination of a binary mixture of 0.974-2.026 x 10(-2) g L(-1) nitrate and nitrite and to a ternary mixture of 1.840-3.888 x 10(-3) g L(-1) histidine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan. The relative standard derivations are between 0.07 and 5.3% for the former system, and between 0.5 and 7.3% for the latter. The results show that the method proposed is more accurate than multiple linear regression.