Image analysis of phenylisothiocyanate derivatised and charge-couple device-detected glyphosate and glufosinate in food samples separated by thin-layer chromatography

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe paper presents the application of pre-chromatographic derivatisation reaction of aminophosphonic acids (glyphosate and glufosinate) with phenylisothiocyanate in thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Silica gel as stationary phase and a mixture of methanol–water–diethyl ether (2:1:1, v/v/v) and ethanol–water–diethyl ether (4:1:2, v/v/v) were used as the mobile phase, respectively. Detection was performed by spraying TLC plates with a freshly prepared mixture of sodium azide (1%), starch solution (1% for glyphosate and 2% for glufosinate), and potassium iodide (1.0 × 10–2 mol L−1) adjusted to pH 6.0 and exposed to iodine vapour for 15 s. Both glyphosate and glufosinate as phenylthiocarbamates (PTC-derivatives) were visible as white spots against a violet background which were converted into chromatograms using TLSee software. The calibration curves for glyphosate and glufosinate were within the ranges of 8.45–84.5 ng and 1.98–79.2 ng per spot, respectively. The limits of detection and quantification for glyphosate were at a level of 4 and 8.45 ng per spot, and for glufosinate were 0.99 and 1.78 ng per spot, respectively. The proposed method was successfully used in the determination of aminophosphonic acids in spiked plants samples.