Expanding the applicability of magnet integrated fabric phase sorptive extraction in food analysis: Extraction of triazine herbicides from herbal infusion samples

Abstract

Magnet integrated fabric phase sorptive extraction (MI-FPSE) is a novel sample preparation technique that utilizes a magnet integrated stand-alone sample preparation device consisting of two FPSE membranes sandwiched together with a cylindrical magnetic bar inside. This technique has been successfully employed for the analysis of biofluids; however, its applicability in food analysis is still unexplored. In this study, MI-FPSE using a sol–gel poly(tetrahydrofuran) coated FPSE cellulose membrane was utilized for the first time for the extraction of six triazine herbicides from herbal infusions. Determination of the target analytes after their extraction from the real samples was conducted using high performance liquid chromatography. The factors that may potentially influence the extraction performance were optimized and the proposed method was validated in terms of accuracy, precision, linearity, limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs). The enhancement factors for the target analytes were 34.1–49.5. Moreover, the LODs (signal/noise = 3.3) for the target analytes were 0.30 ng mL−1 and the LOQs (signal/noise = 10) were 1.00 ng mL−1. The intra-day repeatability and inter-day precision expressed as relative standard deviation were found to be better than 6.5% and better than 8.5%, respectively. Finally, the herein developed protocol was successfully applied for the analysis of herbal infusion samples.