Determination of glucose in soft drink and sugar-cane juice employing a multicommutation approach in flow system and enzymatic reaction

A flow system based on a multicommutation approach was developed for the determination of glucose and sucrose employing enzymatic reactions. The determination was based on the reaction with D-glucose generating hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by glucose-oxidase (GOD). Subsequently, the H₂O₂ generated reacts with 4-aminefenazone plus phenol to form 4-(p-benzoquinone-mono-imine) fenazone detected at 510 nm. This reaction is catalyzed by the peroxidase enzyme (POD). The flow network comprised a set of three-way solenoid valves and was controlled by means of a microcomputer furnished with an electronic interface and running a software written in Quick BASIC 4.5. The flow network and control software were designed to implement the multicommutation approach providing facilities to handle sample and reagent solutions, so that, sample dilution could be easily performed on line. Accuracy was assessed by comparison with results obtained by known procedures and no significant difference at the 95% confidence level was observed. Other advantageous features were a linear response ranging from 0.05 to 0.20% (w/v) glucose without prior dilution, a reagent consumption of 336 μL per determination, an analytical throughput of 30 samples per hour. Received: 24 August 1998 / Revised: 13 November 1998 / Accepted: 19 December 1998     

Automatic flow procedure for the determination of ethanol in wine exploiting multicommutation and enzymatic reaction with detection by chemiluminescence

An automatic procedure for the determination of ethanol in wines using a flow system based on multicommutation and enzymatic reaction is described. Alcohol oxidase was immobilized on aminopropyl glass beads and packed in an acrylic column. The peroxide due to enzymatic reaction with ethanol reacted with luminol and generated the chemiluminescence radiation that was monitored by using a laboratory-made detector based on photodiodes. The system manifold comprised a set of 3-way solenoid valves controlled by a microcomputer furnished with electronic interfaces, which ran on software written in Quick BASIC 4.5 to provide facilities to perform on-line sample dilution, reagent addition, and data acquisition. After system parameters optimization, ethanol samples were processed without prior pretreatment. The following suitable features were achieved: linear response ranging from 2.5 to 25% (v/v) ethanol, relative standard deviation of 1.8% (n = 10), detection limit of 0.3% (v/v) ethanol, sampling rate of 23 determinations per hour, and low reagent consumption of 0.23 mg luminol and 7 mg hexacyanoferrate (III) per determination. When the results were compared with those obtained using the AOAC Official Method, no significant difference at the 90% confidence level was observed.     

Automatic flow procedure for the determination of glycerol in wine using enzymatic reaction and spectrophotometry

An automatic flow procedure for the determination of glycerol in wines by employing a flow system based on multicommutation and enzymatic reaction is described. Glycerol dehydrogenase was immobilized on aminopropyl glass beads and packed into a column that was coupled to the flow system. The NADH produced by the enzymatic reaction was monitored by spectrophotometry at 340 nm and its radiation absorption presented a relationship with glycerol concentration. The system manifold comprised a set of three-way solenoid valves controlled by a microcomputer, which was furnished with electronic interfaces and runs a software that was designed to carry out on-line sample dilution, reagent addition, and data acquisition. The procedure allows the determination of glycerol in wine samples without any prior pretreatment. The procedure presented as profitable features a linear response range between 2.0 and 10.0 g l⁻¹ glycerol (R=0.998), a detection limit of 0.006 g l⁻¹ glycerol, a relative standard deviation of 1.8% (n=14) for a typical wine sample presenting 5.3 g l⁻¹ glycerol, a sampling throughput of 33 determinations per hour, and a NAD⁺ consumption of 0.8 mg per determination. The results were compared with those obtained using a reference method and no significant difference at 90% confidence level was observed.     

Multicommutation in flow analysis. Part 3. Spectrophotometric kinetic determination of creatinine in urine exploiting a novel zone sampling approach

Zone sampling performed on a single analytical channel and associated with the stopped-flow approach was proposed and applied to the spectrophotometric kinetic determination of creatinine in urine based on Jaffé's reaction. The flow network comprised microcomputer controlled three-way solenoid valves. With multicommutation, the potentialities of zone sampling and stopped-flow were expanded, and the design of the flow set up was simplified. Influence of the main related parameters such as system configuration, reagent concentrations, temperature and timing were studied. The proposed system handled about 24 samples per hour. Baseline drift was not observed during extended operation periods (8 h). Sample pretreatment was not required. Results were reproducible (R.S.D. < 3%) and in agreement with those obtained in a batch procedure.     

Simultaneous photometric determination of albumin and total protein in animal blood plasma employing a multicommutated flow system to carried out on line dilution and reagents solutions handling

An automatic flow procedure for the simultaneous determination of albumin and total protein in blood plasma samples is proposed. The flow network comprised a set of three-way solenoid valves assembled to implement the multicommutation. The flow set up was controlled by means of a computer equipped with an electronic interface card which running a software wrote in QUICKBASIC 4.5 performed on line programmed dilution to allow the determination of both albumin and total protein in blood plasma. The photometric methods based on Bromocresol Green and Biuret reagents were selected for determination of albumin and total protein, respectively. Two LEDs based photometers coupled together the flow cells were employed as detector. After the adjustment of the operational parameters the proposed system presented the following features: an analytical throughput of 45 sample processing per hour for two analytes; relative standard deviations of 1.5 and 0.8% (n=10) for a typical sample presenting 34 g l(-1) albumin and 90 g l(-1) total protein, respectively; linear responses ranging from 0 to 15 g l(-1) albumin (r=0.998) and total protein (r=0.999); sample and reagents consumption, 140 microl serum solution, 0.015 mg VBC and 0.432 mg CuSO4 per determination, respectively. Applying the paired t-test between results obtained using the proposed system and reference methods no significant difference at 95 and 90% confidence level for albumin and total protein, respectively, were observed.     

Automatic flow procedure based on multicommutation exploiting liquid-liquid extraction for spectrophotometric lead determination in plant material

A not expensive automatic flow system based on multicommutation and exploiting the liquid-liquid extraction methodology for the determination of lead in plant material is described. The spectrophotometric procedure for lead determination was based on the reaction with dithizone followed by extraction using an organic solvent. The facilities afforded by the multicommutation approach allowed the use of an air stream as carrier, thus contributing to reduce the overall waste generation. The results obtained analysing plant materials compare very well with those obtained employing inductive coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) at 90% confidence level. Others profitable features such as a linear response range between 50 and 200 μg l⁻¹ Pb (r = 0.999); a sampling rate of 15 determination per hour; a relative standard deviation of 1.8% (n = 12) for a typical sample containing 163 μg l⁻¹ Pb; a detection limit of 12 μg l⁻¹; a reagent consumption of 4.5 mg dithizone; and a waste generation of 225 μl organic solvent per determination were also achieved.     

Automated flow analysis system based on multicommutation for Cd, Ni and Pb on-line pre-concentration in a cationic exchange resin with determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A flow system for on-line pre-concentration of Cd, Ni and Pb and determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry is presented. The manifold comprised a set of three-way solenoid valves, which were controlled by a microcomputer running software written in Quick Basic 4.5 by means of an A/D board. Since the flow network was based on the multicommutation concept pre-concentration and elution steps could be simultaneously performed in several columns in parallel with significant analytical throughput improvement. Comparing obtained results with certified values, no significant difference at 95% confidence level was observed. Other valuable features such as an analytical throughput of 90 determinations per hour, relative standard deviation <4% (n=10), sample consumption of 7.8 ml per determination were also achieved.     

Exploiting monosegmented flow analysis to perform in-line standard additions using a single stock standard solution in spectrophotometric sequential injection procedures

The robustness of sequential injection analysis (SIA) was combined with the monosegmented flow analysis (MSFA) approach, in which there is no dispersion of the reaction zone with carrier, to develop a methodology to perform in-line dilution. This approach allows one to know accurately the dilution of sample and reagent inside the monosegment, without the need for determination of dispersion coefficients. As a consequence, the methodology allowed the mechanization of procedures to perform standard additions and to construct analytical curves using a single stock standard solution, with very simple and conventional computation of the sample concentration. The method was illustrated with experiments using the bromothymol blue (BTB) dye, in which no reactions are involved, as well as with the spectrophotometric methodology for determination of Fe(II) using o-1,10-phenanthroline as chromogenic reagent. The resulting method presented a sampling frequency of 30 analyses per hour and a detection limit of 25 μg l⁻¹.     

A downsized flow set up based on multicommutation for the sequential photometric determination of iron(II)/iron(III) and nitrite/nitrate in surface water

In this work, a downsized flow set up designed based on multicommutation concept for photometric determination of iron(II)/iron(III) and nitrite/nitrate is surface water is described. The flow system network comprised a set of three-way solenoid valves, reaction coil and a double-channel flow cell, which were nested in order to obtain a compact and small-size instrument. To accomplish the downsizing requirement light source (LED) and radiation detection (phototransistor) were coupled to the flow cell. In order to demonstrated the effectiveness of the system, the photometer methods based on Griess reaction and 1-10-phenantroline for nitrite and iron(II) determination, respectively, were selected. Under computer control the set up provided facilities to handle four reagent solutions employing a single pumping channel, thus permitting also the determination of nitrate and iron(III) after its reduction to nitrite and to iron(II), respectively. The overall system performance was demonstrated working several days running standard solution, no significant variation of base line, linear response range and slop (less than 1%) were observed. The usefulness of the downsized system was ascertained by analyzing a set of surface water. Aiming to access the accuracy sample were also analyzed employing reference procedures and no significant difference at 95% confidence level were observed for the four analytes. Other profitable features such as analytical throughput of 40 determination per hour; relative standard deviation of 1%; linear response range between 50 and 300 μg l⁻¹ for nitrite and nitrate, 0.5-6.0 mg l⁻¹ iron(II) and iron(III); low reagent consumption 75 μg for nitrate/nitrite and 0.6 mg for iron(II)/iron(III) per determination; and 2.4 ml waste generation per determination were also achieved.     

Time-based multisyringe flow injection system for the spectrofluorimetric determination of aluminium

A time-based multisyringe flow injection procedure with spectrofluorimetric detection is proposed in this paper for the determination of aluminium in drinking water. The flow methodology is based on the simultaneous or sequential injection of sample and chelating reagent (viz. 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid) plugs using a multicommutation approach so that three successive injections may be performed with a sole displacement of the piston driver bar of the burette. Thus, an injection throughput as high as 154 h⁻¹ is achieved by sampling a 182 μl sample zone. In order to enhance the luminescence, the reaction is carried out in micellar medium using hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride as surfactant. The influence of geometric and hydrodynamic variables as well as several parameters such as multicommutation timing, ligand and surfactant concentration and reagent pH was assessed.Under the selected working conditions, a linear dynamic range from 10 to 500 μg l⁻¹ Al(III), a 3σ detection limit of 0.5 μg l⁻¹ and a coefficient of variation of 0.6% at the 30 μg l⁻¹ level were obtained. The analytical features were compared with those reported in previous flow injection and sequential injection methods. The multisyringe technique was successfully applied to the determination of aluminium in drinking water at low mineralisation levels, validating the results by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.     

A Multicommuted Flow‐based System for Hydrogen Peroxide Determination by Chemiluminescence Detection Using a Photodiode

Abstract

A simple, rapid, and automated assay for hydrogen peroxide in pharmaceutical samples was developed by combining the multicommutation system with a chemiluminescence (CL) detector. The detection was performed using a spiral flow‐cell reactor made from polyethylene tubing that was positioned in front of a photodiode. It allows the rapid mixing of CL reagent and analyte and simultaneous detection of the emitted light. The chemiluminescence was based on the reaction of luminol with hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by hexacyanoferrate(III).

The feasibility of the flow system was ascertained by analyzing a set of pharmaceutical samples. A linear response within the range of 2.2–210 µmol l^?1 H₂O₂ with a LD of 1.8 µmol l^?1 H₂O₂ and coefficient of variations smaller than 0.8% for 1.0×10^?5 mol l^?1 and 6.8×10^?5 mol l^?1 hydrogen peroxide solutions (n=10) were obtained. Reagents consumption of 90 µg of luminol and 0.7 mg of hexacyanoferrate(III) per determination and sampling rate of 200 samples per hour were also achieved.     

A versatile set up for implementing different flow analysis approaches: Spectrophotometric determination of nickel in steel alloys

An arrangement capable of implementing the four principal types of flow analysis processes, monosegmented flow analysis (MSFA), flow injection analysis with multicommutation and binary sampling (FIA-MBS), flow injection analysis with sandwich sampling (FIA-SS) and sequential injection analysis (SIA) is described. The core of the flow manifold is a six-way solenoid valve that is assembled together with three three-way solenoid valves in order to provide a versatile flow network. Software was written in VisualBasic 3.0 to give a friendly working structure allowing the user to easily choose the flow variables and the kind of flow system. The reliability of the flow set up for implementation of the four flow analysis systems was evaluated by means of the spectrophotometric determination of nickel in steel alloys, based on the formation of a colored complex with dimethylglyoxime (DMG). The performances of the four different flow methodologies were compared. The reagent consumptions per determination were 4.0 mg of triethanolamine, 6.0 mg of potassium persulfate and 0.6 mg of DMG. When the flow set up was instructed through the software to implement MSFA, FIA-MBS, and FIA-SS approaches, a sampling frequency of 40 samples/h was obtained, while 30 samples could be processed per hour in the SIA mode. The precisions, evaluated as the relative standard deviation of ten determinations were 0.7%, 1.6%, 1.8% and 3.1% for the MFSA, FIA-MBS, FIA-SS and SIA systems, respectively. The results for determination of nickel in steel alloys presented good agreement with the reference method (ICP OES), showing no significant difference at a confidence level of 95%.     

Determination of phenols in waters using micro-pumped multicommutation and spectrophotometric detection: an automated alternative to the standard procedure

An automated and greener spectrophotometric procedure has been developed for the determination of phenol in water at 700 nm. The method uses the reaction between phenol, sodium nitroprusside, and hydroxylamine hydrochloride in a buffered medium at pH 12.3. The flow manifold comprises four solenoid micro-pumps employed for sample and reagent introduction into the reaction coil and to transport the colored product formed to the detector. The linear dynamic range was 50–3,500 ng mL⁻¹ (R = 0.99997; n = 6) and the method provided a limit of detection (3σ) of 13 ng mL⁻¹. The sampling throughput was estimated to be 65 measurements per hour and the coefficient of variation was 0.5% (n = 10) for a 1.0 μg mL⁻¹ phenol concentration. Recoveries of 92–105% were obtained for phenol determination in spiked water samples at concentration levels from 50 to 5,000 ng mL⁻¹. The use of multicommutation reduced the reagent consumption 25-fold, the sample consumption 225-fold, and the waste generation 30-fold compared with the batch procedure. The proposed method is an environmentally friendly alternative to the official 4-aminoantipyrine method since it avoids the use of chloroform.     

A clean method for flow injection spectrophotometric determination of cyclamate in table sweeteners

A flow system based on the multicommutation is proposed for fast and clean determination of cyclamate. The procedure exploits the reaction of cyclamate with nitrite in acidic medium and the spectrophotometric determination of the excess of nitrite by iodometry. The flow system was designed with a set of solenoid micro-pumps to minimize reagent consumption and waste generation. The detection limit was estimated as 30 μmol L⁻¹ (99.7% confidence level) with linear response ranging up to 3.0 mmol L⁻¹. The coefficient of variation was estimated as 1.7% for a solution containing 2.0 mmol L⁻¹ cyclamate (n = 20). About 60 samples can be analyzed per hour, consuming only 3 mg KI and 1.3 μg NaNO₂, and generating 2.0 mL of effluent per determination, thus providing an environmentally friendly alternative to previously proposed procedures. Common artificial and natural sweeteners did not interfere when present in concentrations 10-times higher than cyclamate. The procedure was successfully applied for determination of cyclamate in artificial table sweeteners with results in agreement with the reference method at the 95% confidence level.     

Determination of vinegar acidity by attenuated total reflectance infrared measurements through the use of second-order absorbance-pH matrices and parallel factor analysis

Univariate (zero-order), multivariate (first-order) and multiway (second-order) calibrations were assayed for the determination of vinegar acidity using a mechanized procedure based upon vibrational spectroscopy and the emerging multicommutation methodology. The second-order methodology relies on the use of a flow system based on multicommutation and binary sampling. The flow network comprises a set of three-way solenoid valves, computer-controlled to provide facilities to handle the sample and to generate a time-dependent pH gradient using two carrier solutions. The procedure is based on the volumetric fraction variation approach that maintains the same volume of sample solution and dynamically varies its pH. The analysis of second-order absorbance-pH matrices was performed using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). Results were compared with first-order absorbance data analyzed with linear calibration and partial least squares regression (PLS) and they were employed for a discussion of the relative advantages of the applied chemometric tools. As excellent accuracy is obtained without the need of any sample pre-treatment, the procedure can be fully mechanized (i.e., by means of an auto-sampler device). Accuracy of the different strategies assayed was assessed by comparing the results achieved with those obtained by titration reference procedure.     

Micropumping multicommutation turbidimetric analysis of waters

A micropumping multicommutation manifold to perform turbidity determinations in waters is described. The procedure is based on the use of a combination of hydrazine sulfate and hexamethylenetetramine, to obtain an external standard of nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), which could compare the absorbance measurements at high wavelengths for samples with a calibration line obtained from a concentrated formazine standard diluted on-line. To minimize sample and reagent consumption and waste generation, the flow system was designed with two solenoid micro-pumps, one of them for the alternative introduction of the formazine standard and samples and the other one for the water carrier. The multicommutation approach makes possible the on-line dilution of a single standard to obtain the external calibration. The linear response was ranged up to 160 NTU. The coefficient of variation was estimated as 1.6 and 3.2% for 10 and 100 mm flow cell, respectively, for solutions containing 40 NTU (n = 10). Approximately, 60 determinations can be carried out per hour with limit of detection values of 1 and 0.1 NTU, consuming only 160 or 240 μL formazine solution and generating 1.8 or 2.0 mL waste per determination, using measurement cells of 10 and 100 mm optical pathlength, respectively. The procedure was successfully applied to 11 different water samples. Recovery studies were carried out and results obtained were between 97.5 ± 0.2 and 100 ± 1%. The development of a homebuilt light emitting diode (LED)-based portable flow analysis instrument was checked for in situ turbidimetric measurements, providing this equipment a LOD value of 0.09 NTU working with a blue LED at 464 nm and a LOD value of 0.1 NTU working with an IR LED.     

A multicommutation-based flow system for multi-element analysis in pharmaceutical preparations

A flow system exploiting multicommutation and multidetection is proposed for sequential determinations in pharmaceutical preparations. The feasibilities were demonstrated by the determination of zinc, iron, copper, calcium and magnesium without changing the flow set-up. The gravitational flow of the solutions was exploited for addition of different chromogenic reagents and sample aliquots, thus avoiding the use of a propulsion unit. Transient signals at different wavelengths were measured simultaneously employing a fiber-optic multichannel spectrophotometer. Coefficients of variation of 1.0, 1.5, 1.4, 2.5 and 2.0% were obtained for iron, zinc, copper, calcium and magnesium, respectively. The mean sampling rate for the five species was 60 determinations per hour. In comparison to continuous reagent addition systems, the consumption was up to 160-fold lower. Results for pharmaceutical preparations agreed with those obtained by Flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS) at the 95% confidence level.     

Liquid-liquid extraction procedure exploiting multicommutation in flow system for the determination of molybdenum in plants

A liquid-liquid extraction flow analysis procedure for the spectrophotometric determination of molybdenum in plants at μg l⁻¹ level is described. The flow network comprised a set of solenoid valves assembled to implement the multicommutation approach under microcomputer control. Radiation source (LED, 475 nm), detector (photodiode) and separation chamber were nested together with the flow cell comprising a compact unit. The consumption of reagents (potassium thiocyanate and stannous chloride) and also extracting solvent (isoamyl alcohol) were optimized to 32 mg and 200 μl per determination, respectively. Accuracy was assessed by comparing results with those obtained with ICP-OES and no significant difference at 95% confidence level was observed. Other favorable characteristics such as a linear response ranging from 25 to 150 μg l⁻¹ molybdenum (r=0.999); detection limit of 4.6 μg l⁻¹ sample throughput of 25 determinations per hour and relative standard deviation of 2.5% (n=10) were also achieved.     

Flow injection analysis: Part VIII. Determination of glucose in blood serum with glucose dehydrogenase

The flow injection principle is used for enzymatic determination of glucose in blood serum with glucose dehydrogenase. Methods based on single-point determination on deproteinized serum samples, single-point determination comprising continuous flow dialysis, and two-point kinetic assay, are described and discussed. Special consideration is given to optimizing the flow parameters in order to minimize reagent consumption, yet to maintain a high sampling rate. Thus, for the single-point determination, a sampling rate of 120 samples per h was achieved at an expenditure of 3.12 g-units of glucose dehydrogenase per sample.     

Merging zones in flow injection analysis : Part 6. determination of calcium in natural waters, soil and plant materials with glyoxal bis(2-hydroxyanil)

A flow injection procedure is proposed for the spectrophotometric determination of calcium in natural waters, soil extracts and plant digests, employing glyoxal bis(2-hydroxyanil) as the colour-forming reagent. The necessary dissociation of this reagent, which is rather slow, proceeds outside the analytical path, and the merging-zones approach is used for reagent addition. Composition of reagents, dissociation time of the colourforming reagent, ethanol content in the carrier streams and interferences are described. In the analysis of plant and soil materials, zone sampling is required for initial sample dilution. The proposed systems are very stable and permit a sampling rate of 180 determinations per hour. Relative standard deviations are less than 1%. The results compare well with those obtained by inductively-coupled argon-plasma atomic emission spectrometry.