Simple Approach for the Rapid Detection of Alternariol in Pear Fruit by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering with Pyridine-Modified Silver Nanoparticles

Abstract

A simple method based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was developed for the rapid determination of alternariol (AOH) in pear fruits using an easily prepared silver-nanoparticle (AgNP) substrate. The AgNP substrate was modified by pyridine to circumvent the weak affinity of the AOH molecules to the silver surface and to improve the sensitivity of detection. Quantitative analysis was performed in AOH solutions at concentrations ranging from 3.16 to 316.0 μg/L, and the limit of detection was 1.30 μg/L. The novel method was also applied to the detection of AOH residues in pear fruits purchased from the market and in pear fruits that were artificially inoculated with Alternaria alternata. AOH was not found in any of the fresh fruit, whereas it resided in the rotten and inoculated fruits. Finally, the SERS method was cross validated against HPLC. It was revealed that the SERS method has great potential utility in the rapid detection of AOH in pear fruits and other agricultural products.

Highly Reproducible Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Detection of Alternariol Using Silver-Embedded Silica Nanoparticles

“…With the AOH treatment, several intense SERS bands appeared in the spectrum of the SiO 2 @Ag NPs. The most intense band at 1609 cm −1 was assigned to a C–C ring stretching mode [ 13 , 21 , 22 ], whereas the band at 1304 cm −1 was assigned to C–H ring stretching mode [ 13 , 22 ] and that at 1254 cm −1 was assigned to C–O–H and C–H in-plane bending [ 22 , 23 ]. These SERS bands are well matched with the reported Raman spectra of AOH [ 22 ].…”

“…Therefore, AOH detection using SERS was proposed to overcome the labor intensive and time-consuming weaknesses of the chromatographic methods. This is because SERS is highly sensitive and rapid and simple from the viewpoint of the analysis process [ 13 ]. According to the literature, pyridine-modified silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been used as an SERS substrate for the detection of AOH.…”

Target Quantification and Semi-Target Screening of Undesirable Substances in Pear Juices Using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry

“…These results fulfill the criteria set by the European EU Commission Decision 2002/657/EC [ 21 ] established for a reliable quantification. This methodology, based on a simple QuEChERS extraction, stands as a powerful tool for detecting Fusarium mycotoxins in pear juice at low levels, reaching a higher sensitivity for several of the analytes than previous methods developed for detecting a single analyte in pear juice and carried out by Spadaro, Garibaldi, and Gullino [ 16 ] (PAT, LOQ = 1.7 ng/mL); Bonerba, Ceci, Conte, and Tantillo [ 15 ] (PAT, LOQ = 1 ng/mL); and Pan et al [ 23 ] (AOH = 1.3 ng/mL).…”

“…Recently, Alternaria mycotoxins have been studied in pear and pear-derived foodstuffs. Pan, Sun, Pu, and Wei [ 23 ] investigated Alternaria toxin AOH in fresh pears ( n = 5), observing an absence of contamination despite having good sensitivity (LOQ = 1.3 ng/mL). A specific methodology for detecting AOH and AME in pear juice has been developed by Ruan, Diao, Zhang, Zhang, and Liu [ 7 ].…”

Detection of cimetidine in human plasma by surface‐enhanced Raman scattering

“…Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a rapid and sensitive method [21][22][23][24][25] including Raman spectroscopy and nanotechnology. Generally, when a target molecule is adsorbed on the rough surface of the nanoscale noble metal material, the Raman signal of the molecule is enhanced [26].…”