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Simultaneous Determination of Melatonin, l-Tryptophan, and two l-Tryptophan-Derived Esters in Food by HPLC with Graphene Oxide/SiO2 Nanocomposite as the Adsorbent

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Abstract

In this research, a dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) with graphene oxide@SiO2 (GO@SiO2) nanocomposites as the adsorbent followed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis was developed for simultaneous determination of melatonin, l-tryptophan, and two l-tryptophan-derived esters in food (black sesame seed (Sesamum indicum L.) was selected in this case). The GO@SiO2 nanocomposite was prepared by one-pot aggregation in aqueous phase with sol-gel technique. The structure and morphology of the GO@SiO2 were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The extraction conditions of dSPE including the ratio of material to liquid, adsorption and desorption time, desorption temperature, and desorption solvents were investigated, respectively. The detection limits of the developed method for the analysis of melatonin, l-tryptophan, l-tryptophan methyl ester, and l-tryptophan ethyl ester were achieved below 0.1 μg mL−1. The established method was successfully applied to the analysis of the target analytes in black sesame seed, which provided a simple, low-cost, and sensitive approach for the determination of trace compounds in complex samples.

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Funding

Support by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (21477033), Program for Science & Technology Innovation Talents in Universities of Henan Province (17HASTIT003), Program for Excellent Youth Scholars in Higher Education of Henan Province (2014GGJS-024), and the Program for Development in Science and Technology of Henan Province (172102310608) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental and Analysis Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, 475004, China

    Jiahua Niu, Xiaoting Zhang, Peige Qin, Yixin Yang, Shufang Tian & Minghua Lu

  2. Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical College, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, 475004, China

    Hui Yang

Authors
  1. Jiahua Niu
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  2. Xiaoting Zhang
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  3. Peige Qin
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  4. Yixin Yang
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  5. Shufang Tian
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  6. Hui Yang
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  7. Minghua Lu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Minghua Lu.

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Conflict of Interest

Jiahua Niu declares that she has no conflict of interest. Xiaoting Zhang declares that she has no conflict of interest. Peige Qin declares that she has no conflict of interest. Yixin Yang declares that she has no conflict of interest. Shufang Tian declares that she has no conflict of interest. Hui Yang declares that she has no conflict of interest. Minghua Lu declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Niu, J., Zhang, X., Qin, P. et al. Simultaneous Determination of Melatonin, l-Tryptophan, and two l-Tryptophan-Derived Esters in Food by HPLC with Graphene Oxide/SiO2 Nanocomposite as the Adsorbent. Food Anal. Methods 11, 2438–2446 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-018-1213-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-018-1213-2

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