A sensitive dispersive micro solid-phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography for determination of three flavonoids in complex matrics by using crab shell as a sorbent.

A sensitive dispersive micro solid-phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography has been developed for preconcentration and determination of three flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin) in complex matrix samples. Parameters that affecting extraction efficiency have been optimized. The optimal extraction conditions is using 2 μg/mL of crab shell as the sorbent, extraction for 2 min at pH 7 and then eluting with 100 μL of methanol. As a result, the method shows good linearity (R >0.9994), low limits of detection (even to 0.08 ng/ml) and satisfactory recovery in real honey and rat urine samples. As an eco-friendly biomaterial, crab shell powder is used as sorbent in pretreatment of flavonoids, and its adsorption mechanism has been investigated for the first time. Compared with the other reported methods, the proposed strategy is time-saving, eco-friendly and high sensitivity using HPLC (even achieving MS grade sensitivity). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.