Sensitive, simple and rapid colorimetric detection of malachite green in water, salmon and canned tuna samples based on gold nanoparticles.

BACKGROUND

Malachite green is used in aquaculture and fisheries as a fungicide and antiseptic and it is also used in industry as a dye. However, malachite green is carcinogenic and highly toxic for humans and animals. In this study, a spectrophotometric method was developed to detect malachite green. The method was based on the surface plasmon resonance property of gold nanoparticles and interaction between malachite green and gold nanoparticles.

RESULTS

Malachite green-gold nanoparticles were rapidly aggregated in the acidic medium; as a result, a color change from red to blue was observed, which was easily detectable by the naked eye. The absorption ratio (A623/A520) of the gold nanoparticles in an optimized system exhibited a linear correlation with malachite green concentration. The method detection limit and linear range were 3 and 50-350 ng mL , respectively. The method was applied successfully to detect malachite green in different samples.

CONCLUSION

The method was simple and rapid to detect malachite green. The most important advantages of the method are the possibility of malachite green determination with very good accuracy and sensitivity using a simple UV-visible spectrometer without any expensive or sophisticated instrumentation and also the versatility of real samples. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.