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Smartphone-based imaging colorimetric assay for monitoring the quality of curcumin in turmeric powder

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Abstract

This research developed a colorimetric assay for semi-quantitative curcumin detection. The screening test was performed using a ferric chloride to form a brownish color which was further used to evaluate the amount of curcumin in the turmeric powder samples. The quantitative assay was performed based on the color intensity of the curcumin target using a smartphone digital image colorimetry with a developed lightbox constructed with a white light-emitting diodes (LED) light source as the measurement device. Images in red, green, and blue (RGB) color were processed to obtain relevant colors from the image and the color values were used to analyze curcumin concentrations. The intensity of the ΔB was correlated to the concentration of curcumin with high sensitivity. The method showed a linear range between 0.25 and 5 mg L−1 with the LOD and LOQ of 0.12 and 0.41 mg L−1, respectively. Sample analysis was carried out in turmeric powders. Curcumin in turmeric powder samples was simply extracted using acetonitrile followed by dilution 100 times for sample preparation. The accuracy was tested by spiking 0.25, 1.00, and 4.00 mg L−1 of standard curcumin into the turmeric sample solution. The average percentage recoveries were acceptable in all samples (90–104%). The method was validated by comparing the results obtained from the proposed method and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). There was no statistically significant difference between the two methods (P = 0.05).

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Science, Research and Innovation Fund (NSRF) and Prince of Songkla University (Grant No SCI6501032S).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Prince of Chumphon Campus, Chumphon, 86160, Thailand

    Jongjit Jantra

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani, 12110, Thailand

    Siriwan Teepoo

  3. Division of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, 90110, Thailand

    Suchera Thananimit

  4. Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics Research, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, 90110, Thailand

    Suchera Thananimit

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  1. Jongjit Jantra
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Contributions

JJ and STh conceived and designed the research. JJ and STh conducted experiments. All the authors analyzed data. JJ and STh wrote the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Suchera Thananimit.

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Jantra, J., Teepoo, S. & Thananimit, S. Smartphone-based imaging colorimetric assay for monitoring the quality of curcumin in turmeric powder. ANAL. SCI. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44211-024-00562-2

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