Application of zein-modified magnetite nanoparticles in dispersive magnetic micro-solid-phase extraction of synthetic food dyes in foodstuffs.

A simple method for the simultaneous and trace analysis of four synthetic food azo dyes including carmoisine, ponceau 4R, sunset yellow, and allura red from some foodstuff samples was developed by combining dispersive μ-solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection. Zein-modified magnetic Fe O nanoparticles were prepared and used for μ-solid-phase extraction of trace amounts of mentioned food dyes. The prepared modified magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy. The factors affecting the extraction of the target analytes such as pH, amount of sorbent, extraction time, type and volume of the desorption eluent, and desorption time were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the method provided good repeatability with relative standard deviations lower than 5.8% (n = 9). Limit of detection values ranged between 0.3 and 0.9 ng/mL with relatively high enrichment factors (224-441). Comparing the obtained results indicated that Fe O nanoparticles modified by zein biopolymer show better analytical application than bare magnetic nanoparticles. The proposed method was also applied for the determination of target synthetic food dyes in foodstuff samples such as carbonated beverage, snack, and candy samples.