An effervescence-assisted microextraction for parabens in foodstuffs based on deep eutectic solvent composed of methyltrioctyl ammonium chloride and decanoic acid

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 433; p. 137348
• Main Authors: Cao, Jiangping, Shi, Lei, He, Yifei, Wang, Tingting, Zeng, Baizhao, Zhao, Faqiong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Chromatography; Emulsification liquid–liquid microextraction; Hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent; Parabens; Sodium carbonate; Hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent; Sodium carbonate; Emulsification liquid–liquid microextraction; Chromatography; Parabens
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137348

•A novel deep eutectic solvent (DES) based on methyltrioctyl ammonium chloride and decanoic acid was developed.•The DES had high hydrophobicity and was quite suitable for the emulsification microextraction of trace parabens.•Sodium carbonate facilitated the dissolution of parabens and phase separation by enhancing pH and generating CO2.•The developed method was efficient, sensitive, inexpensive, and eco-friendly. An efficient and ecofriendly effervescence-assisted emulsification microextraction approach based on hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (EA-EME-DES) was developed for the sensitive chromatographic determination of parabens (i.e., methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and butylparaben) in foodstuffs. The DES extractant consisted of methyltrioctyl ammonium chloride (MTAC) and decanoic acid (DecA) (1:3, mol/mol), and had high hydrophobicity, solubility and stability. During the microextraction procedure, sodium carbonate was introduced to facilitate the dissolution of parabens in aqueous solution, DES dispersion and phase separation by enhancing solution pH and generating CO2 bubbles. The developed method exhibited satisfactory linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9986), detection limits (0.01–0.03 μg/g), quantitation limits (0.04–0.09 μg/g), recoveries (87.8% to 111%, with RSDs of 0.8% to 5%) and negligible matrix effects, hence it had remarkable effectiveness and applicability in determining parabens in complex foodstuffs.