Abstract
A liquid chromatography based method to detect citrinin in corn was developed using molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) sample clean-up. Molecularly imprinted polymers were synthesized using 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid as the template and an amine functional monomer. Density functional calculations suggest the mimic template interacts with the functional monomer in a similar manner as citrinin. Freundlich isotherm analysis indicated the template provided a significant imprinting effect for citrinin binding. A high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD) method to detect citrinin in maize was developed utilizing the imprinted polymers for sample clean-up (excitation at 330 nm; emission at 500 nm). Recoveries of citrinin in spiked corn samples (0.03–3 µg g−1) were between 82.3–91.5%. This study demonstrates that molecularly imprinted polymers are applicable in the solid phase extraction clean-up of corn samples for citrinin determination by HPLC-FD.
Acknowledgments
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