Fe3O4 nanoparticles as the adsorbent of magnetic solid-phase extraction for clean and preconcentration of maltol and ethyl maltol in food samples followed by HPLC analysis

In this work, a magnetic solid-phase extraction protocol followed with high-performance liquid chromatography analysis was developed for the determination of maltol and ethyl maltol in food samples. The Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were prepared by one-step hydrothermal method and was used as adsorbent for clean and preconcentrated maltol and ethyl maltol in food samples. The as-prepared Fe₃O₄ nanoparticle was characterized by transmission electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and vibrating sample magnetometer. The extraction conditions including the amount of material, extraction time, pH, temperature, and desorption solvents were investigated, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of 0.04 and 0.05?µg?mL^?1 could be achieved for maltol and ethyl maltol. The recoveries between 84.2 and 103.4% with RSDs lower than 2.30% were obtained for the analysis of spiked plum candy sample. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of real samples, such as juice, chocolate, and plum candy.