Miniaturized solid-phase microextraction of caffeine in tea samples: assessing the environmental friendliness of the methods with the GAPI tool

Abstract

Over the last few decades, there has been a significant increase in tea consumption worldwide, leading to a growing concern for the quality and nutritional value of tea. The demand for high-quality tea has necessitated the development of new analytical approaches to ensure adherence to quality standards and process control. One area of particular importance is the control of caffeine in tea, as regular consumption of caffeine in large quantities can contribute to the leaching of beneficial minerals from the human body. To address this issue, in this work have developed a rapid technique for determining caffeine in tea samples using miniaturized solid-phase microextraction (mini-SPME) combined with chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The study included the screening of teas available in the market of Kazakhstan. In this study optimized the basic parameters of miniaturized solid-phase microextraction of caffeine from tea samples, including fiber coating, extraction temperature, extraction time, and pre-incubation time. The fiber coating used in the study was DVB/CAR/PDMS, and the optimal extraction temperature was found to be 90°C, with an extraction time of 20 minutes and a pre-incubation time of 5 minutes. The developed method is efficient and can be used for determination and control of traces of caffeine in tea samples. Furthermore, the study evaluated the environmental friendliness of the methods for analyzing caffeine in teas using the GAPI tool. The GAPI tool is a software program that assesses the environmental impact of a chemical process by considering several parameters, such as toxicity, energy consumption, and waste generation. The results of the study showed that the developed method was environmentally friendly