Electro membrane extraction of organic acids in undiluted honey with ion chromatographic analysis

An electro membrane extraction procedure was developed for organic acids on undiluted honey. The procedure involved the application of a potential of 24 V across a supported liquid membrane to extract the organic acids. Determination of the analytes was by ion chromatography. Parameters affecting extraction performance such as pH of the honey (sample solution), the concentration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution (extractant solution), extraction time and voltage were studied. The optimized conditions were: 24 V potential, 5 min extraction time, pH 4 of the honey and 0.1 M NaOH solution. Good linearity for analyte concentrations of between 0.1 and 100 mg kg(-1) with coefficients of correlation of between 0.9930 and 0.9996 were obtained. The limits of detection were between 0.01 and 1.38 mg kg(-1) (n = 3). Relative recoveries ranging from 34 to 96% with relative standard deviations (n = 3) of between 2.9 and 12.5% were obtained. The developed methodology was compared with membrane bag liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction and solid-phase extraction.