Determination of osthole in rat plasma by high-performance liquid chromatograph using cloud-point extraction

A new straightforward method based on cloud-point extraction (CPE) was developed to determine osthole in rat plasma by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection using a photodiode array detector. The non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114 was chosen as the extract solvent. Variable parameters affecting the CPE efficiency were evaluated and optimized. A Zorbax SB-C₁₈ column was used for elution separation at 25 °C with detection wavelength at 322 nm. Under the optimum conditions, the method was shown to be reproducible and reliable with intra-day precision below 7.62%, inter-day precision below 6.37%, and accuracy within ±5.02% and mean extraction recovery more than 90.4%, which were all calculated using a range of spiked samples at three concentrations of 0.5, 5.0 and 15.0 μg mL⁻¹ for osthole in plasma. The calibration curve for the analyte was linear in the range from 0.1 to 20 μg mL⁻¹ with the correlation coefficients greater than 0.9981. Limit of detection (S/N = 3) was less than 0.03 μg mL⁻¹and limit of quantification (S/N = 10) was less than 0.1 μg mL⁻¹. After strict validation, the method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of osthole in rats after oral and intravenous administration, respectively.     

Simultaneous determination of salbutamol sulphate, bromhexine hydrochloride and etofylline in pharmaceutical formulations with the use of four rapid derivative spectrophotometric methods

Four simple, rapid, accurate, precise, reliable and economical spectrophotometric methods have been proposed for simultaneous determination of salbutamol sulphate (SS), bromhexine hydrochloride (BH) and etofylline (ET) in pure and commercial formulations without any prior separation or purification. They were first derivative zero crossing spectrophotometry (method 1), simultaneous equation method (method 2), derivative ratio spectra zero crossing method (method 3) and double divisor ratio spectra derivative method (method 4). The ranges for SS, BH and ET were found to be 1-35 μg mL⁻¹, 4-40 μg mL⁻¹ and 5-80 μg mL⁻¹. For methods 1 and 2, the values of limit of detection (LOD) were 0.2314 μg mL⁻¹, 0.4865 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.2766 μg mL⁻¹ and the values of limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 0.7712 μg mL⁻¹, 1.6217 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.9221 μg mL⁻¹ for SS, BH and ET, respectively. For method 3, LOD values were 0.3297 μg mL⁻¹, 0.2784 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.7906 μg mL⁻¹ and LOQ values were 0.9325 μg mL⁻¹, 0.9282 μg mL⁻¹ and 2.6352 μg mL⁻¹ for SS, BH and ET, respectively. For method 4, LOD values were 0.3161 μg mL⁻¹, 0.2495 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.2064 μg mL⁻¹ and LOQ values were 0.9869 μg mL⁻¹, 0.8317 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.6879 μg mL⁻¹ for SS, BH and ET. The precision values were less then 2% R.S.D. for all four methods. The common excipients and additives did not interfere in their determinations. The results obtained by the proposed methods have been statistically compared by means of Student t-test and by the variance ratio F-test.     

Determination of andrographolide and dehydroandrographolide in rabbit plasma by on-line solid phase extraction of high-performance liquid chromatography

The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with on-line solid phase extraction (SPE) and ultraviolet (UV) detection was developed for determining andrographolide and dehydroandrographolide in rabbit plasma. Plasma samples (100 μL) were injected directly into a C18 SPE column and the biological matrix was washed out for 6 min using 15% aqueous methanol. By rotation of the switching valve, andrographolide and dehydroandrographolide were eluted in the back-flush mode and transferred to the analytical column by the chromatographic mobile phase consisted of methanol:acetonitrile (ACN):water (50:10:40; v/v). The UV detection was performed at 225 nm. The calibration curves showed excellent linear relationship (R ≥ 0.9993) over the concentration range of 0.05-5.0 μg mL⁻¹. The within- and between-day precisions (R.S.D.) of two analytes were in the range of 1.2-6.5% and the accuracies were between 92.0% and 102.1%. Their recoveries were all greater than 94%. The limits of detection were 0.019 μg mL⁻¹ for andrographolide and 0.022 μg mL⁻¹ for dehydroandrographolide. This method was successfully applied to the plasma concentration-time curve study after oral administration of Andrographis paniculata Nees extract in rabbit.     

Liquid chromatographic determination of sitagliptin either alone or in ternary mixture with metformin and sitagliptin degradation product

Two reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (RP-LC) methods have been developed for the determination of sitagliptin phosphate monohydrate (STG). The first method comprised the determination of STG alone in bulk and plasma; and in its pharmaceutical preparation. This method was based on isocratic elution of STG using a mobile phase consisting of potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH (7.8)-acetonitrile (70:30, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL min⁻¹ with flourometric detection. The flourometric detector was operated at 267 nm for excitation and 575 nm for emission. In the second method, the simultaneous determination of STG and metformin (MET) in the presence of sitagliptin alkaline degradation product (SDP) has been developed. In this method, the ternary mixture of STG, MET and SDP was separated using a mobile phase consisting of potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH (4.6)-acetonitrile-methanol (30:50:20, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL min⁻¹ with UV detection at 220 nm. Chromatographic separation in the two methods was achieved on a Symmetry^® Waters C18 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm). Linearity, accuracy and precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration ranges of 0.25-200 μg mL⁻¹ for STG with the first method and 5-160 μg mL⁻¹, 25-800 μg mL⁻¹ for STG and MET, respectively with the second method. The optimized methods were validated and proved to be specific, robust and accurate for the quality control of the cited drugs in pharmaceutical preparations.     

Improved porous silicon microarray based prostate specific antigen immunoassay by optimized surface density of the capture antibody

Enriching the surface density of immobilized capture antibodies enhances the detection signal of antibody sandwich microarrays. In this study, we improved the detection sensitivity of our previously developed P-Si (porous silicon) antibody microarray by optimizing concentrations of the capturing antibody. We investigated immunoassays using a P-Si microarray at three different capture antibody (PSA – prostate specific antigen) concentrations, analyzing the influence of the antibody density on the assay detection sensitivity. The LOD (limit of detection) for PSA was 2.5 ng mL⁻¹, 80 pg mL⁻¹, and 800 fg mL⁻¹ when arraying the PSA antibody, H117 at the concentration 15 μg mL⁻¹, 35 μg mL⁻¹, and 154 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. We further investigated PSA spiked into human female serum in the range of 800 fg mL⁻¹ to 500 ng mL⁻¹. The microarray showed a LOD of 800 fg mL⁻¹ and a dynamic range of 800 fg mL⁻¹ to 80 ng mL⁻¹ in serum spiked samples.     

Determination of nateglinide in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with pre-column derivatization using a coumarin-type fluorescent reagent

A sensitive and selective high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed and validated for the determination of nateglinide in human plasma. Nateglinide and the internal standard, undecylenic acid, were extracted from plasma by liquid-liquid extraction using a mixture of ethyl acetate-diethyl ether, 50:50 (v/v). Pre-column derivatization reaction was performed using a coumarin-type fluorescent reagent, N-(7-methoxy-4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-6-chromenyl)-2-bromoacetamide. The derivatization proceeded in acetone in the presence of potassium carbonate and catalyzed by 18-crown-6 ether. The fluorescent derivatives were separated under isocratic conditions on a Hypersil BDS-C8 analytical column (250.0 mm × 2.1 mm i.d., particle size 5 μm) with a mobile phase that consisted of 65% acetonitrile in water and pumped at a flow rate of 0.50 mL min⁻¹. The excitation and emission wavelengths were set at 345 and 435 nm, respectively. The assay was linear over a concentration range of 0.05-16.00 μg mL⁻¹ for nateglinide with a limit of quantitation of 0.05 μg mL⁻¹. Quality control samples (0.05, 4.50 and 16.00 μg mL⁻¹) in five replicates from five different runs of analysis demonstrated intra-assay precision (%coefficient of variation <6.8%), inter-assay precision (%coefficient of variation <1.6%) and an overall accuracy (%relative error) less than −3.4%. The method can be used to quantify nateglinide in human plasma covering a variety of pharmacokinetic or bioequivalence studies.     

Development of a validated liquid chromatographic method for the quality control of Prunellae Spica: Determination of triterpenic acids

A simple and rapid reversed-phase HPLC-UV method was developed for the determination of triterpenic acids in the crude extract of Prunellae Spica. Five triterpenic acids were extracted and isolated from P. Spica as marker compounds for use in the quality control of herbal medicines. Various solvent extraction techniques were evaluated, and the greatest efficiency was observed with sonication in 100% ethanol. Elemental compositions of the five marker compounds were determined by high-resolution mass spectroscopy. The dynamic range of the HPLC-UV method depended on the specific analyte, and acceptable quantitation was obtained between 10 and 250 μg mL⁻¹ for oleanolic acid, between 10 and 300 μg mL⁻¹ for ursolic acid, between 3 and 75 μg mL⁻¹ for 2α,3α,24-trihydroxyolean-12en-28oic acid, between 5 and 100 μg mL⁻¹ for euscaphic acid, and between 5 and 100 μg mL⁻¹ for 2α,3α-dihydroxyurs-12en-28oic acid. The method was deemed satisfactory by inter- and intra-day validation and exhibited both high accuracy and precision (relative standard deviation <9.4%). Overall limits of quantitation and detection were approximately 0.5-2.5 μg mL⁻¹ at a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 3 and were about 3.0-10.0 μg mL⁻¹ at a S/N of 10. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the analytical data of 15 different P. Spica samples in order to classify samples collected from different regions.     

Determination of mono- and dichloroacetic acids in betaine media by liquid chromatography

A simple and sensitive method has been developed for the analysis of residue amounts of chloroacetic acids in betaine samples based on derivatization by 1-naphthylamine (NA). The derivatized compounds are analyzed by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography using methanol and water as mobile phase in the ratio of 32/68 (v/v) and phenyl column and PDA detection at 222 nm. The detection limits (LOD) of monochloroacetic acid (MCA) and dichloroacetic acid (DCA) are 0.1 and 0.15 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. The limits of quantification (LOQ) and the linear dynamic ranges (LDR) of MCA are found to be 1 and 1-400 μg mL⁻¹, respectively, and for DCA are found to be 3 and 3-400 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. The precision at the 5 ppm level for MCA and DCA are about 3% and 2%, (n = 5), respectively. The average recovery for MCA and DCA spiked to betaine samples are 98% and 97%, respectively.     

A novel application of Onyx™ monolithic column for simultaneous determination of salicylic acid and triamcinolone acetonide by sequential injection chromatography

A novel and fast simultaneous determination of triamcinolone acetonide (TCA) and salicylic acid (SA) in topical pharmaceutical formulations by sequential injection chromatography (SIC) as an alternative to classical high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been developed. A recently introduced Onyx™ monolithic C18 (50 mm × 4.6 mm, Phenomenex^®) with 5 mm monolithic precolumn were used for the first time for creating sequential injection chromatography system based on a FIAlab^® 3000 with a six-port selection valve and 5.0 mL syringe pump in study. The mobile phase used was acetonitrile/water (35:65, v/v), pH 3.3 adjusted with acetic acid at flow rate 0.9 mL min⁻¹. UV detection provided by fibre-optic DAD detector was set up at 240 nm. Propylparaben was chosen as suitable internal standard (IS). There is only simple pre-adjustment of the sample of topical solution (dilution with mobile phase) so the analysis is not uselessly elongated. Parameters of the method showed good linearity in wide range, correlation coefficient >0.999; system precision (relative standard deviation, R.S.D.) in the range 0.45-1.95% at three different concentration levels, detection limits (3σ) 1.00 μg mL⁻¹ (salicylic acid), 0.66 μg mL⁻¹ (triamcinolone acetonide) and 0.33 μg mL⁻¹ (propylparaben) and recovery from the pharmaceutical preparations in the range 97.50-98.94%. The chromatographic resolution between peaks of compounds was more than 4.5 and analysis time was 5.1 min under the optimal conditions. The advantages of sequential injection chromatography against classical HPLC are discussed and showing that SIC can be a method of option in many cases.     

A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography coupled with resonance Rayleigh scattering detection for the determination of four tetracycline antibiotics

A new reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography with resonance Rayleigh scattering detection (HPLC-RRS) was developed for simultaneous separation and determination of four tetracycline antibiotics (TCs). A good chromatographic separation among the compounds was achieved using a Synergi Fusion-RP column (150 mm × 4.6 mm; 4 μm) and a mobile phase consisting of methanol-acetonitrile-oxalic acid (5 mM) at the flow rate of 0.8 mL min⁻¹. Column temperature was 30 °C. The RRS signal was detected at λ_ex = λ_em = 370 nm. The recoveries of sample added standard ranged from 95.3% to 103.5%, and the relative standard deviation was below 2.79%. A detection limit of 2.12-5.12 μg mL⁻¹ was reached and a linear range was found between peak height and concentration in the range of 10.36-518.0 μg mL⁻¹ for oxytetracycline (OTC), 12.11-605.5 μg mL⁻¹ for tetracycline (TC), 11.79-589.5 μg mL⁻¹ for chlortetracycline (CTC) and 10.32-516.0 μg mL⁻¹ for doxycycline (DC). The linear regression coefficients were all above 0.999. The method has been applied successfully to the determination of OTC, TC, CTC, DC in pharmaceutical formulations and in honey. The method was simple, rapid and showed a better linear relation and high repeatability.     

On-line continuous flow ultrasonic extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatographic separation for determination of the flavonoids from root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi

An on-line method, based on coupling dynamic ultrasonic extraction (DUE), continuously sampling the suspension of sample and solvent, high performance liquid chromatographic separation with diode array detection, has been developed for the determination of the flavonoids, including baicalin, baicalein and wogonin, from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. Variables influencing the DUE were evaluated by orthogonal test. The extraction yields of baicalin, baicalein and wogonin in the roots of S. baicalensis Georgi obtained from five different cultivated areas are 73.8–131.5 μg mg⁻¹ (RSD ≤ 6.24%), 6.8–15.9 μg mg⁻¹ (RSD ≤ 5.36%) and 4.4–14.3 μg mg⁻¹ (RSD ≤ 5.30%), respectively. The limits of detection for baicalin, baicalein and wogonin are 0.30, 0.37 and 0.41 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. Linearity is from 0.55 to 109 μg mL⁻¹ for baicalin, from 0.51 to 105 μg mL⁻¹ for baicalein and from 0.53 to 102 μg mL⁻¹ for wogonin. Compared with off-line continuous flow-DUE, the proposed method would be more convenient for the determination of the analytes and the rapid optimization of the extraction process. The extraction yields of flavonoids obtained by the proposed method are comparable with those obtained by dynamic microwave assisted extraction, static ultrasonic extraction and reflux extraction. The result indicated that the proposed method is suitable to determine the active components in Chinese herbal medicine.     

Screening and determination of melamine residues in tissue and body fluid samples

Melamine is a chemical product that was sporadically mixed into animal feeds to boost protein content. Excessive melamine in animal feed can induce renal failure and even death in animals. The residue of melamine in edible animal products also threatens human health. Currently, there is no real-time and high throughput method to detect residual melamine in animal tissues. Successful development of such methods is very important for fast and on-site screening of melamine residue in animal tissues to eliminate the potential threat to human health. Here we demonstrate the detection of residual melamine from swine and chicken tissues and body fluids using indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. A detection sensitivity of 0.5 μg mL⁻¹ and a limit of detection of 0.05 μg mL⁻¹ were achieved with this method. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was also developed to act as a confirmatory and quantitative procedure for the ELISA results. The limits of quantitation (LOQ) of were 0.01 μg g⁻¹ and 0.005 μg mL⁻¹ for tissues and body fluids, respectively. The two methods showed good agreement (r² > 0.992). The method developed was performed on samples of tissues from chickens fed with melamine-spiked feed.     

Sensitive quantitative determination of oxymatrine and matrine in rat plasma by capillary electrophoresis with stacking induced by moving reaction boundary

A quantitative method of capillary electrophoresis with sample stacking induced by moving reaction boundary (MRB) was developed for sensitive determination of oxymatrine (OMT) and matrine (MT) in rat plasma. The experimental conditions were optimized firstly. Below are the optimized experimental conditions: 20 mM sodium formate solution (HCOONa, adjusted to pH 10.70 by ammonia) as sample solution, 3 min 14 mbar sample injection, 40 mM formic buffer (HCOOH-HCOONa, pH 2.60) as stacking buffer, 7 min 14 mbar injection of stacking buffer, 100 mM HCOOH-HCOONa (pH 4.80) as separation buffer, 73 cm capillary (effective length 64 cm), 21 kV voltage, 210 nm wavelength. Under the optimized conditions, higher than 60-fold sensitivity improvement of the stacking was simply achieved as compared with capillary zone electrophoresis, and the detectable limits obtained for OMT and MT were 0.26 and 0.19 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. Then, numerous demonstrations were carefully performed for the methodological validations of OMT and MT in rate plasma, including high specificity of method, good linearity (r = 0.9993 for OMT, r = 0.9991 for MT), fair wide linear concentration range (1.30-65.00 μg mL⁻¹ for OMT, 0.84-42.00 μg mL⁻¹ for MT), low limit of detection (1.03 μg mL⁻¹ for OMT, 0.38 μg mL⁻¹ for MT), less than 5% intra- and inter-day variance value, and higher than 96% recovery of OMT and MT in plasma. The developed method could be used for the trace analyses of OMT and MT in plasma and was finally used for the investigation on pharmacokinetic study of OMT in rat plasma.     

Determination of beta-lactam antibiotics in milk using micro-flow chemiluminescence system with on-line solid phase extraction

In this paper, a chemiluminescence (CL) micro-flow system combined with on-line solid phase extraction (SPE) is presented for determination of β-lactam antibiotics (penicillin, cefradine, cefadroxil, cefalexin) in milk. It is based on the enhancement effect of β-lactam antibiotics on the luminol-K₃Fe(CN)₆ CL system. The micro-flow system was fabricated from two polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plates (50 mm × 40 mm × 5 mm) with the microchannels of 200 μm wide and 150 μm deep. C₁₈-modified silica gel was packed into the microchannel (length: 10 mm; width: 1 mm; depth: 500 μm) to serve as SPE device. Extraction and preconcentration of the analytes were carried out using on-line SPE micro-flow system and the selectivity of CL detection was improved. The detection limits were 0.5 μg mL⁻¹ of penicillin, 0.04 μg mL⁻¹ of cefradine, 0.08 μg mL⁻¹ of cefadroxil and 0.1 μg mL⁻¹ of cefalexin. The proposed method was also applied to analyze the β-lactam antibiotics in milk. Experimental results were in good agreement with those obtained by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with UV detection.     

A novel microchip based on indium tin oxide coated glass for contactless conductivity detection

A microfluidic chip manufactured from glass substrate and indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass use for contactless conductivity detection was developed. The detecting electrodes were fabricated by screen-printing and chemical etching methods using an ITO-coated glass wafer. Then, the glass substrate containing separation channels was bonded with the bare side of the processed ITO-coated glass, thus producing an electrophoresis chip integrated with contactless conductivity detector. The prepared microchip displayed considerable stability and reproducibility. Sensitive response was obtained at optimal conditions (including the gap between electrodes, excitation frequency, and excitation voltage). The feasibility of this microfluidic device was examined by detection of inorganic ions, and further demonstrated by the quantification of aminopyrine and caffeine in a compound pharmaceutical. The two ingredients can be completely separated within 1 min. The detection limits were 8 μg mL⁻¹ and 3 μg mL⁻¹, respectively; with the correlation coefficient of 0.996-0.998 in the linear range from 10 μg mL⁻¹ to 800 μg mL⁻¹. The results have showed that the present method is sensitive, reliable and fast.     

Approaches for application of sub and supercritical fluid extraction for quantification of orbifloxacin from plasma and milk: Application to disposition kinetics

Since its extensive development in the early 1980s, SFE has attracted considerable attention as a sample-preparation procedure. However, other different sample preparation procedures, including precipitation, liquid- and/or solid-phase extraction in biological fluids, also remain in use. In this investigation, SFE was introduced to isolate and identify orbifloxacin from plasma and milk. Four parameters, including the temperature and the pressure of supercritical fluid, modifier ratios, and dynamic extraction time, were evaluated and optimized to obtain the best yield of the analyte from the biological fluids. Determinations of the orbifloxacin (OBFX) in the extracts were carried out using HPLC-FLD. The optimum conditions of the extraction process that yielded the maximum analyte extraction efficiencies were 150 °C vs. 60 °C, 250 kg cm⁻², 30% vs. 35% methanol, and 40 min vs. 20 min, for plasma and milk, respectively. The linearity of the calibration curves as well as the instrument LODs/LOQs were evaluated. Good linearity (at least r² ≥ 0.999) of the calibration curves was obtained over the range from 0.2 to 0.01 μg mL⁻¹. The method showed a good recovery rate (74.2-127.73%) and precision (RSDs: 1.64-20%). The instrumental LOD and LOQ values were 0.004 μg mL⁻¹ vs. 0.01 μg mL⁻¹ or 0.006 μg mL⁻¹ vs. 0.02 μg mL⁻¹, for plasma and milk, respectively. The method was successfully applied to estimate the pharmacokinetic variables of orbifloxacin in lactating does. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that SFE has been applied to isolate an antimicrobial agent from biological fluids. This method is promising for clinical applications and for pharmacokinetic studies of various pharmaceuticals in biological fluids.     

A sensitive sensor for anthraquinone anticancer drugs and hsDNA based on CdTe/CdS quantum dots fluorescence reversible control

Based on CdTe/CdS quantum dots (CdTe/CdS QDs) fluorescence (FL) reversible control, a new and sensitive FL sensor for determination of anthraquinone (AQ) anticancer drugs (adriamycin and daunorubicin) and herring sperm DNA (hsDNA) was developed. Under the experimental conditions, FL of CdTe/CdS QDs can be effectively quenched by AQ anticancer drugs due to the binding of AQ anticancer drugs on the surface of CdTe/CdS QDs and photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process from CdTe/CdS QDs to AQ anticancer drugs. Addition of hsDNA afterwards brought the restoration of CdTe/CdS QDs FL intensity, as AQ anticancer drugs peeled off from the surface of CdTe/CdS QDs and embedded into hsDNA double helix structure. The liner ranges and the detection limits of FL quenching methods for two AQ anticancer drugs were 0.33-9 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.09 μg mL⁻¹ for ADM and 0.15-9 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.04 μg mL⁻¹ for DNR, respectively. The restored FL intensity was proportional to concentration of hsDNA in the range of 1.38-28 μg mL⁻¹and the detection limit for hsDNA was 0.41 μg mL⁻¹. It was applied to the determination of AQ anticancer drugs in human serum and urine samples with satisfactory results. The reaction mechanism of CdTe/CdS QDs FL reversible control was studied.     

Determination of indole-3-acetic acid and indole-3-butyric acid in mung bean sprouts using high performance liquid chromatography with immobilized Ru(bpy)3-KMnO4 chemiluminescence detection

A novel method for determination of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) in an extract from mung bean sprouts using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with chemiluminescence (CL) detection is described. The method is based on the CL reaction of auxin (indole-3-acetic acid and indole-3-butyric acid) with acidic potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) and tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II), which was immobilized on the cationic ion-exchange resin. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Nucleosil RP-C18 column (i.d.: 250 mm × 4.6 mm, particle size: 5 μm, pore size: 100) with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of methanol-water-acetic acid (45:55:1, v/v/v). At a flow rate of 1.0 mL min⁻¹, the total run time was 20 min. Under the optimal conditions, the linear ranges were 5.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 5.0 × 10⁻⁶ g mL⁻¹ and 5.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ g mL⁻¹ for IAA and IBA, respectively. The detection limits were 2.0 × 10⁻⁸ g mL⁻¹ and 2.0 × 10⁻⁷ g mL⁻¹ for IAA and IBA, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of intra-day were 3.1% and 2.3% (n = 11) for 2 × 10⁻⁶ g mL⁻¹ IAA and 2 × 10⁻⁶ g mL⁻¹ IBA; The relative standard deviations of inter-day precision were 6.9% and 4.9% for 2 × 10⁻⁶ g mL⁻¹ IAA and 2 × 10⁻⁶ g mL⁻¹ IBA. The proposed method had been successfully applied to the determination of auxin in mung bean sprouts.     

A rapid, acetonitrile-free, HPLC method for determination of melamine in infant formula

A simple, precise, accurate and validated, acetonitrile-free, reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is developed for the determination of melamine in dry and liquid infant formula. The separation is performed on a Kromasil C18 column (150 mm × 3.2 mm I.D., 5 μm particle size) at room temperature. The mobile phase (0.1% TFA/methanol 90:10) is pumped at a flow rate of 0.3 mL min⁻¹ with detection at 240 nm. Melamine elutes at 3.7 min. A linear response (r > 0.999) is observed for samples ranging from 1.0 to 80 μg mL⁻¹. The method provides recoveries of 97.2-101.2% in the concentration range of 5-40 μg mL⁻¹, intra- and inter-day variation in <1.0% R.S.D. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values are 0.1 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.2 μg mL⁻¹, respectively.     

Glassy carbon electrodes modified with gold nanoparticles for the simultaneous determination of three food antioxidants

Electrochemical behavior of three antioxidants: butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroquinone (TBHQ), was investigated at a glassy carbon electrode modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/GCE). This electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results indicated that the modified electrode was strongly electroactive during the redox reactions of BHA, BHT and TBHQ, and this was confirmed by the observed increased redox peak currents and shifted potentials; in addition, the oxidation products of BHA and TBHQ were found to be the same. The experimental conditions were optimized and the oxidation peaks of BHA and BHT were clearly separated. Based on this, an electrochemical method was researched and developed for the simultaneous determination of BHA, BHT and TBHQ in mixtures with the use of first derivative voltammetry; the linear concentration ranges were 0.10–1.50 μg mL⁻¹, 0.20–2.20 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.20–2.80 μg mL⁻¹, and detection limits were 0.039, 0.080 and 0.079 μg mL⁻¹, for BHA, BHT and TBHQ, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the analysis of the three analytes in edible oil samples.