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Voltammetric Sensor for the Determination of TBHQ in Coconut Oil

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Abstract

A sensitive voltammetric method for the determination of tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a widely used synthetic phenolic antioxidant in oils and fats, using multiwalled carbon nanotube modified gold electrode (MWCNT/GE) was developed. In 0.10 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS) of pH 2, TBHQ gave redox peaks at E pa = 258 mV and E pc = 228 mV on MWCNT/GE. Diffusion-controlled electrooxidation of TBHQ was found to be perfectly reversible with the involvement of two electrons and two protons. The anodic peak currents varied linearly with concentrations of TBHQ in the range 4.0 × 10−6 to 1.00 × 10−4 M. The limit of detection achieved for the developed sensor was 3.20 × 10−8 M (5.31 ng mL−1). Developed sensor was used for the determination of TBHQ in commercially available coconut oil. The results obtained from the developed method were in good agreement with the standard method (HPLC-UV).

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Government of India for the financial assistance in the form of a research project to carry out this work. Krishnapillai Girish Kumar has received research grant from DRDO, Government of India.

Conflict of interest

Ambily Thomas declares that she has no conflict of interest. Anuja Elevathoor Vikraman declares that she has no conflict of interest. Divya Thomas declares that she has no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, 682 022, India

    Ambily Thomas, Anuja Elevathoor Vikraman, Divya Thomas & Krishnapillai Girish Kumar

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  1. Ambily Thomas
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  2. Anuja Elevathoor Vikraman
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  3. Divya Thomas
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  4. Krishnapillai Girish Kumar
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Correspondence to Krishnapillai Girish Kumar.

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Thomas, A., Vikraman, A.E., Thomas, D. et al. Voltammetric Sensor for the Determination of TBHQ in Coconut Oil. Food Anal. Methods 8, 2028–2034 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-015-0092-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-015-0092-z

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