Automated Magnetic Solid-Phase Extraction for Synthetic Food Colorant Determination

A new automated magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) method was developed and combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and spectrophotometry for off-line and on-line quantitative enrichment and determination of synthetic food colorants in food samples. Fe3O4-poly (ionic liquid) core-shell microspheres were prepared as a sorbent to quickly extract analytes from aqueous samples. The entire MSPE process, including extraction, separation, elution, and cleaning, was automated using common equipment. The main parameters affecting the performance of MSPE and the automated process, such as absorbent, sample pH, eluent, flow rate, elution time, etc., were investigated in detail. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the limits of detection ranged between 4.1 and 14 ng/mL by off-line HPLC and were 220 ng/mL for the determination of amaranth by on-line spectrophotometry, with excellent reproducibility (intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations were less than 3.2 %). The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of colorants in food samples.