Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with digital image colorimetric analysis for detection of total iron in water and food samples.

A simple and low cost assay for total iron in various samples based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with digital scanning image analysis was proposed. Orthogonal experiment design was utilized to optimize the amount of extraction solvent and disperser solvent, O-phenanthroline concentration and buffer pH. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.047-1.0μgmL (R>0.99) of iron. The limit of detection (LOD) for iron was 14.1μgL and limit of quantification (LOQ) was 46.5μgL. The relative standard deviations for seven replicate determinations of 0.5μgmL of iron was 3.75%. The method was successfully applied for analysis of total iron in water and food samples without using any spectral instrument and it could have a potential industrial impact in developing fast and portable devices to analyze the iron content in water and certain foods.