Molecular imprinting technology for electrochemical sensing of kasugamycin in food products based on Cu²⁺/Cu⁺...

An electrochemical sensing approach was developed for the detection of the agricultural antibiotic drug kasugamycin. The method involves the construction of an electrochemical sensor comprising molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) embedded within a carbon paste (CP) matrix. The MIPs are designed to have imprinted sites that match the size and geometry of the Cu(II)-kasugamycin coordinated complex. Upon removal of kasugamycin, cavities suitable for the drug's entrance are formed within the MIPs. The presence of Cu(II) facilitates the detection of the drug by generating a redox signal of Cu(II)-Cu(I), which can be easily detected using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The signal response of Cu(II)-Cu(I) increases in the presence of the drug, promoting the accumulation of Cu(II) ions within the imprinted cavities. Under optimized conditions, the anodic peak (I_pa) signal of Cu(II)-Cu(I) exhibits an increase proportional to the concentration of kasugamycin within the range of 0.15-140 μM. The detection limit (LOD, S/N = 3) achieved is 0.046 μM. The proposed sensor demonstrates several characteristic features including good stability, reliable performance, a low detection limit, and excellent selectivity. The Cu(II)-MIP@CP sensor proved effective in detecting kasugamycin within complex samples like meat, milk, and cucumber, yielding recovery% ranging from 96.0 to 103.8%. Additionally, the relative standard deviation % (RSD%) fell within the range of 2.2% to 4.0%, indicating good precision and reliability.