Low concentration noroxin detection using terahertz spectroscopy combined with metamaterial

The unreasonable use of antibiotics in poultry breeding has led to the frequent occurrence of antibiotic residues in poultry products, affecting food safety and posing a threat to human health. Accurate and rapid detection of antibiotic drug content is therefore of great significance. In this study, a new metamaterial method based on terahertz (THz) spectroscopy for the detection of the quinolone antibacterial drug noroxin in low concentrations was developed and tested. First, a new metamaterial structure was designed using a computational electromagnetics simulation tool with experimental verification. Three-dimensional full-wave electromagnetic field simulations and measured transmission spectra for the metamaterials were observed. Second, the transmission spectra of photoresists with different thicknesses (0-40 mu m) on the metamaterials surface were simulated, and the transmission spectra of noroxin thin films of different concentrations on the metamaterial surface were measured. Finally, using a purchased standard sample of noroxin in ethanol (100 mu g/mL) as the mother liquor, test samples of different concentrations were prepared, and experiments and multivariate data analysis were carried out. The noroxin detection limit for the method presented in this paper was determined as 0.01 mu g/mL. Thus, the new metamaterial method based on terahertz spectroscopy designed in this study was shown to effectively detect low concentrations of noroxin, providing a theoretical and experimental basis for the rapid detection of quinolone antibiotic residues in food matrices. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A new metamaterial method based on terahertz spectroscopy was developed in this study to detect low concentrations of the quinolone antibacterial drug noroxin, providing a theoretical and experimental basis for the rapid detection of antibiotic residues in food matrices. The method presented a noroxin detection limit of 0.01 µg/mL, demonstrating its effectiveness in detecting low concentrations of the antibiotic.