Molecularly Imprinted Dispersive-Based Extraction Method for Melamine in Milk (MIDE HPLC DAD)

Arminda Alves,Leandro Figueiredo,Lúcia Santos

doi:10.24297/jac.v10i6.882

Arminda Alves, Leandro Figueiredo + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.24297/jac.v10i6.882

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Abstract

An easy and selective molecularly imprinted dispersive extraction method (MIDE) coupled with HPLC-DAD was developed for melamine´s analysis in commercial milk samples. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthetized by suspension polymerisation with melamine as template, while methacrylic acid, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and chloroform were used as monomer, cross-linker and porogenic solvent, respectively. The analytical methodology was validated presenting a limit of detection of 0.6 mg/kg. The recovery percentage in spiked milk samples ranged from 92.9% to 102.0% with an intermediate precision of 5.0%. The analysis of real samples with MIDE revealed melamine´s presence in 20% of the cases with a maximum concentration of 9.3 ± 0.3 mg/kg, which exceeds the maximum recommended level of 2.5 mg/kg.

Highlights

Melamine is an organic compound with high nitrogen content that is used in plastic industry and in the production of flame retardants
It has been fraudulently used as food additive to artificially increase the measured protein content. Such incidents occurred in America in 2007 and in China 2008 after the contamination of pet food and milk products with melamine [1]. This fraudulent addition was responsible for the death of animals and children, because while in the organism, melamine can react with cyanuric acid producing insoluble compounds that tend to accumulate in kidneys causing renal failure and death [2]
Selective sorbents like molecularly imprinted polymers could supress some of the interference problems, a matrix effect study is advisable

Summary

Introduction

Melamine is an organic compound with high nitrogen content that is used in plastic industry and in the production of flame retardants. It has been fraudulently used as food additive to artificially increase the measured protein content. Such incidents occurred in America in 2007 and in China 2008 after the contamination of pet food and milk products with melamine [1]. The concern about human exposure led to the development of methods capable of detecting and quantifying the presence of melamine in food samples [4]

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