Sensitive colorimetric detection of cyromazine in cucumber samples by using label-free gold nanoparticles and polythymine

Abstract

Cyromazine (CYR) can cause serious damage to the organs of animals or human beings, and it was found to bind to polythymine (polyT10) via multiple hydrogen bonding interactions. Based on this novel finding, a highly sensitive and simple colorimetric method was developed for CYR detection by using label-free gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and polyT10. Under the optimized conditions, excellent linearity was acquired for CYR within the range of 1–500 ng mL⁻¹. In addition, the spectra and color changes of the AuNP solution were measured by spectrophotometry and observed by the naked eye, and the results showed that as low as 1 and 5 ng mL⁻¹ of CYR could be detected, depending upon the measurement methods. Afterwards, cucumber was selected to investigate the sample matrix effect and a sample pretreatment procedure was developed with simple homogenization and filtration. Even after 200 times dilution, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) reached 252 ng g⁻¹ and 500 ng g⁻¹, respectively. The LOD and LOQ satisfied the Chinese requirement for the maximum residue limit (MRL), which is 0.5–1 μg g⁻¹ of CYR in most vegetables. The assay also showed a good average recovery of 83.7–104.8% with the RSD of less than 7% and good selectivity for cyromazine over other pesticides that may exist in vegetable samples. The method proposed in this study was simple, fast, and highly sensitive and accurate, and the test result with this method was visible to the naked eye. Therefore, it could be used for routine determination of CYR residues in cucumber samples.