Combining Molecularly Imprinted Polymer with Mass Spectrometry for Enhanced Biogenic Amine Detection in Food Samples

A method combining molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) with surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SALDI–TOF-MS) was devised for the highly specific and ultrasensitive detection of biogenic amines (BAs) in real samples. The approach was designed to identify BAs such as histamines (HIS) and tryptamines (TRP) with improved sensitivity and accuracy. The results of this study were published in the journal Talanta and led by Kun Hu from Guangxi Normal University (1).

Homemade sausages from turkey (chicken) fried in a frying pan | Image Credit: © teleginatania - stock.adobe.com

Hu and the research team devised a method that requires synthesizing an adsorbent comprising silica nanospheres coated with gold nanoparticles (SiO2@AuNPs) modified with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) (1). The MIP was then synthesized with HIS and TRP as template molecules (SiO₂@AuNP@PDA-MIP), using in situ dopamine self-polymerization (1).

The method the researchers proposed demonstrated low background interference, excellent reproducibility and stability, high salt tolerance, and satisfactory linearity (1). It was able to improve on these attributes by identifying the analytes using the SALDI-TOF-MS technique without elution (1). The limits of detection for HIS and TRP were found to be 0.2 and 0.1 ng/mL, respectively, indicating relatively good sensitivity (1).

The method was used to analyze real samples of beer, sausage, and chicken. The results were similar to those obtained with liquid chromatography–MS (LC–MS) (1).

This study delved into the performance and mechanism of the proposed method, revealing an enhanced desorption and ionization mechanism when conducting SALDI–TOF MS on SiO₂@AuNPs@PDA-MIP (1). As a result, industries involved in food safety could potentially benefit from this method, where the precise detection of BAs is crucial for maintaining consumer health.

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Reference

(1) Tang, S.; Hao, Q.; Huang, Y.; Zhao, S.; Hu, K. Highly selective and sensitive histamine and tryptamine analysis using SiO2@AuNPs@PDA molecularly imprinted polymer coupled with SALDI–TOF MS. Talanta 2024, 270, 125538. DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125538