One‒pot green synthesized protein‒based silver nanocluster as prooxidant biosensor

In this study, silver nanoclusters as prooxidant biosensor were eco‒friendly synthesized using chicken egg white protein without any chemical reducing agents for measuring copper(II)-induced prooxidant activities of catechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, resveratrol, gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, and rutin. The prooxidant activities were evaluated via measuring the absorption at 450 nm wavelength of the Cu(I)‒neocuproine chelate formed by extraction of protein-bound Cu(I) with neocuproine reagent. Accuracy was determined by evaluating recovery values of wine, grape and apple samples and the obtained values were between 97.2%‒98.9%. Intra-day precision and inter-day reproducibility experiments were studied with three different experiments in a day and three different days respectively. The obtained relative standard deviation values were 0.96% and 1.91%. The detection limit of the biosensor was found as 0.2 µM. The total prooxidant activities of fresh apple and grape fruits, apple and grape juices, and red wine were determined and the results obtained were compared with the findings of the carbonyl assay. In this study, a cheap, easily applicable, sensitive, and reproducible biosensor was developed. It was seen that it could be used in the measurement of the prooxidant activity of different food samples and give an idea about diet, healthy life, and nutrition.