Fast Molecular Recognition of Docosahexaenoic Acid Ethyl Ester in the Liver and Meat of Stingray Using a Miniplatform Based on a 3D Stochastic Microsensor

Abstract

Docosahexaenoic acid ethyl ester has an important role in the prevention of the neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Its extraction from fish such as the stingray as anoil creates a pharmaceutical formulation. Therefore it is essential to develop fast molecular recognition methods able to perform both qualitative and quantitative determination of docosahexaenoic in stingray meat and liver. A miniplatform incorporating a 3D stochastic microsensor was designed and validated for the molecular recognition of docosahexaenoic acid ethyl ester. The design of the microsensor was based on the modification of a graphene decorated with nitrogen and boron paste (NB-graphene paste) with 10−3mol L−1 alpha-cyclodextrin. A wide linear concentration range (5.0 × 10−14 − 5.0 × 10−7 g mL−1) and a low limit of quantitation (5.0 × 10−14 g mL−1) were obtained. High recovery values were determined when the miniplatform was used for the assay of docosahexaenoic acid ethyl ester from stingray liver and meat with recoveries higher than 99.20%. The relative standard deviation values were less than 0.05 (N = 10).