Dummy template molecularly imprinted polymer for solid phase extraction of phenothiazines in meat based on...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Polymer Science
• Food Safety

Background:

• Phenothiazine drugs are widely used, raising concerns about their residues in food products.
• Accurate and sensitive detection methods are crucial for monitoring food safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based solid-phase extraction method for phenothiazine determination in meat.
• To assess the performance of the MIP for extracting and quantifying phenothiazine residues.

Main Methods:

• Computational simulation of phenothiazine structures and dummy templates.
• Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers using dummy templates.
• Development of a solid-phase extraction (SPE) column packed with MIP.
• Analysis of phenothiazines in meat samples using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Main Results:

• The synthesized MIPs demonstrated recognition abilities consistent with theoretical calculations.
• The MIP-based SPE column exhibited high adsorption capacities (850-962 ng/mg) and recoveries (93-98%) for four phenothiazines.
• The SPE column was recyclable up to sixty times with low limits of detection (1.0-10 ng/g).
• High recoveries (70.3-96.1%) were achieved from fortified blank meat samples.

Conclusions:

• This study presents the first molecularly imprinted polymer-based method for determining phenothiazine residues in food.
• The developed method is effective, sensitive, and reusable for food safety analysis.