Automated Sequential Injection Method for Determination of Caffeine in Coffee Drinks

An automated sequential injection analysis spectrophotometric assay for the determination of purine alkaloids in coffee drinks was developed. The sample was treated with a carrez reagent for matrix suppression followed by filtration; subsequently, alkaloids were separated from organic acids using a short C18 monolithic column (10 × 4.6 mm). The flow rate of the separation step was 10 μL s^?1 with 10% v/v of methanol as the mobile phase. The sum of alkaloids evaluated as caffeine was detected at 274 nm. The influence of the main parameters affecting the quantification of purine alkaloids was optimized. One sample analysis lasted 15 min when aspirated in triplicate. The linear range was 1–15 mg L^?1, and the determination coefficient (r ²) was 0.9969. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 0.128 and 0.425 mg L^?1, respectively. The repeatability evaluated as the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 3.58% (n = 12, 10 mg L^?1). Under optimal conditions, the method was successfully applied to determine purine alkaloids in different real samples including soluble coffee, coffee from an espresso machine, and brewed coffee drinks.     

Multiple stirred-flow chamber assembly for simultaneous automatic fractionation of trace elements in fly ash samples using a multisyringe-based flow system

There is a current trend in automation of leaching tests for trace elements in solid matrixes by use of flow injection based column approaches. However, as a result of the downscaled dimensions of the analytical manifold and execution of a single extraction at a time, miniaturized flow-through column approaches have merely found applications for periodic investigations of trace element mobility in highly homogeneous environmental solids. A novel flow-based configuration capitalized on stirred-flow cell extraction is proposed in this work for simultaneous fractionation of trace elements in three solid wastes with no limitation of sample amount up to 1.0 g. A two-step sequential extraction scheme involving water and acetic acid (or acetic acid/acetate buffer) is utilized for accurate assessment of readily mobilizable fractions of trace elements in fly ash samples. The fully automated extraction system features high tolerance to flow rates (< or = 6 mL min(-1)) and, as opposed to operationally defined batchwise methods, the solid to liquid ratio is not a critical parameter for determination of overall readily leachable trace elements provided that exhaustive extraction is ensured. Analytical performance of the dynamic extractor is evaluated for fractionation analysis of a real coal fly ash and BCR-176R fly ash certified reference material. No significant differences were found at the 0.05 significance level between summation of leached concentrations in each fraction plus residue and concentration values of BCR-176R, thus revealing the accuracy of the automated method. Overall extractable pools of trace metals in three samples are separated in less than 115 min, even for highly contaminated ashes, versus 18-24 h per fraction in equilibrium leaching tests. The multiple stirred-flow cell assembly is thus suitable for routine risk assessment studies of industrial solid byproduct.     

Properties of jackfruit seed starch oxidized with different levels of sodium hypochlorite

The effect of active chlorine concentrations (1–5%) on the properties of jackfruit seed starch was investigated. Both the carbonyl and carboxyl contents of the oxidized starches generally increased with progressive increases in the active chlorine concentration. No evidences of alteration in the morphology and X-ray diffraction pattern were observed after oxidation, while the decrease in relative crystallinity was found. The swelling power of the oxidized starch tended to decrease with the active chlorine levels, particularly at a low level of active chlorine (1–3%). No significant differences in the peak temperature (Tp) and the end temperature (Te) were found between the native and the oxidized starches, while the oxidized starches had lower onset temperatures (To). Parameters, such as pasting temperature, peak viscosity, and setback, decreased with the concentration of active chlorine. In addition, lower syneresis and turbidity were found in all oxidized starches during refrigerated storage compared to the native starch.     

Flow-through dispersed carbon nanofiber-based microsolid-phase extraction coupled to liquid chromatography for automatic determination of trace levels of priority environmental pollutants

Handling of carbon nanoparticles as sorptive materials in a flow-through packed-bed mode has been to date hampered by undue pressure drop and deteriorated retention efficiency because of nanoparticle bundling and entanglement. To surmount this limitation, a dedicated stirred-flow sorptive microchamber integrated in a fully automated sequential injection (SI) assembly is herein proposed for expedient handling and reuse of carbon nanoparticles in microsolid-phase extraction (μSPE) procedures. The assembled setup features automatic uptake, preconcentration, and retrieval of target organic species using dispersed nanoparticles as a front-end to liquid chromatographic (LC) assays. Chlorotriazine residues (atrazine, simazine, and propazine) and dealkylated metabolites thereof (deisopropyltriazine (DIA) and deethylatrazine (DEA)) were selected as model compounds because of their electron-poor aromatic structure and potentially strong π-π interactions with electron-rich sorptive materials. The effect of several parameters on the analytical performance including the type and amount of nanoparticles (carbon nanofibers (CNFs), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and oxidized carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-COOH), the sample volume (breakthrough volume), the nature and volume of eluent, and the interface between the sample processing module and LC was explored in detail. Using dispersed CNFs at-line coupled to LC, absolute recovery percentages for 10 mL sample percolation were >94% for the overall herbicides with enrichment factors of ca. 20, limits of detection (S/N = 3) of 0.004-0.03 ng mL(-1), limits of quantification (S/N = 10) of 0.01-0.09 ng mL(-1) and repeatability within the range 0.5-1.8%. The SI-CNF-LC hyphenated system was harnessed to the analysis of not merely untreated environmental waters at concentration levels below those endorsed by the current EU Water Framework Directives but to crude soil extracts for which CNF reuse with no loss of retention efficiency was proven feasible by resorting to appropriate automatic regeneration procedures and internal standardization.