Simultaneous Determination of Ferulic Acid and Vanillin in Vanilla Extracts Using Voltammetric Sensor Based on Electropolymerized Bromocresol Purple

Natural phenolic antioxidants are one of the widely studied compounds in life sciences due to their important role in oxidative stress prevention and repair. The structural similarity of these antioxidants and their simultaneous presence in the plant samples stipulate the development of methods for their quantification. The current work deals with the simultaneous determination of vanillin and its bioprecursor ferulic acid using a voltammetric sensor for the first time. A sensor based on the layer-by-layer deposition of the polyaminobenzene sulfonic acid functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (f-SWCNTs) and electropolymerized bromocresol purple has been developed for this purpose. The best response of co-existing target analytes was registered for the polymer obtained from the 25 µM dye by 10-fold potential cycling from 0.0 to 1.2 V with the scan rate of 100 mV s−1 in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (PB), pH 7.0. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) confirmed the effectivity of the sensor developed. The linear dynamic ranges of 0.10–5.0 µM and 5.0–25 µM for both analytes with the detection limits of 72 nM and 64 nM for ferulic acid and vanillin, respectively, were achieved in differential pulse mode. The sensor was applied for the analysis of vanilla extracts.

Cation–Anionic Interactions of Dyes in Aqueous Solutions: Bromocresol Purple in the Processes of Dissimilar Association

The interaction between single- or double-charged anions of bromocresol purple (BP) and cyanine cations (quinaldine blue, QB, or quinaldine red, QR) at concentrations of dyes 5.0·10−7–4.0·10−5 mol/L has been investigated by vis-spectroscopy. The thermodynamic constants of dissimilar associations (Kas) have been studied. Comparison of the values of lg Kas shows that QB− associates of BP− are more stable (6.61 ± 0.07) than QR associates (4.84 ± 0.06); a similar phenomenon is observed for associates of the BP2− anion. Semi-empirical calculations (PM3 method) are in agreement with the vis-spectroscopy data and indicate that the association of dye into an associate is possible. The standard enthalpies of formation of associates (ΔfHo) and energy diagrams have been determined. The ΔfHo data indicate that the formation of an associate between dye ions is an energetically favourable process. The gain in energy significantly exceeds the systematic error of semi-empirical calculations and increases from 157 kJ/mol (associate ”BP− + QB+”) to 729 kJ/mol (associate “BP2− + QR+”). The most probable structures of dissimilar associates are presented. The study of the dissimilar association develops the concept of intermolecular interactions in solutions.

A new spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of ascorbic acid with bromocresol purple in pharmaceutical samples

Based on the interaction between ascorbic acid and bromocresol purple, a new simple, straightforward, and quick method for the quantification of ascorbic acid is proposed. The procedure is based on the determined quenching effect of ascorbic acid on the natural fluorescence signal of bromocresol purple in the reaction between ascorbic acid and bromocresol purple in phosphate buffer solution (pH 6). The reduction of bromocresol purple fluorescence intensity is detected at 641 nm, while excitation occurs at 318 nm. The linear relationship between the reduced fluorescence intensity of bromocresol purple and the concentration of ascorbic acid is in the range 4.65 × 10–5 to 4.65 × 10–6 mol L−1 (R2 = 0.9964), with the detection limit of 8.77 × 10–7 mol L−1 and quantification limit of 2.35 × 10–5 mol L−1. The findings in this study further show that the new method provides good precision and repeatability, as well as satisfactory recovery values in terms of accuracy. The new method is tested on fifteen samples with different amounts of ascorbic acid and additional components. The effects of interfering components such as citrus bioflavonoids, citric acid, folic acid, paracetamol, calcium, and magnesium carbonate on the intensity of fluorescence of bromocresol purple are also investigated. The effects of interfering components such as citrus bioflavonoids (routine and hesperidin), citric acid, folic acid, paracetamol, calcium, and magnesium carbonate on the intensity of fluorescence of bromocresol purple are also investigated. The results of iodometric titration point out that the new method is effective for the determination of ascorbic acid in pharmaceutical samples. Article Highlights A new spectrofluorimetric method for determination of ascorbic acid in pharmaceutical samples using bromocresol purple. Determination of optimal parameters for ascorbic acid determination in a variety of pharmaceutical samples. Examination of the influence of additional substances in the pharmaceutical samples on the analysis.

Evaluation of sodium lauryl sulfate for the development of cow-side mastitis screening test

Background and Aim: Subclinical mastitis (SCM) is an economically important disease for dairy cattle worldwide; therefore, regular screening is imperative to detect SCM at an early stage so as to control it. The study was conducted to compare the test characteristics of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a test reagent to detect SCM in dairy cows. Materials and Methods: First, 106 milk samples of dairy cows were subjected to available indirect screening tests (white side test [WST], surf field mastitis test, Leucocytest, and Immucell) considering somatic cell count (SCC) as gold standard test. Then 273 milk samples were allowed to react with different concentrations of SLS with or without sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and indicators (bromothymol blue [BTB] and bromocresol purple [BCP]). Results: SLS with or without NaOH yielded best reaction with the milk samples similar to Leucocytest. It was observed that the reaction of milk samples with SLS added with indicators (BTB and BCP) was easier to visualize than without indicators. SLS 3%+NaOH 1.5% with BTB and SLS 2% with BCP had high sensitivity, specificity, and substantial agreement with SCC. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of SLS 2% with BCP and SLS 3%+NaOH 1.5% with BTB was 0.917 and 0.875, respectively. Conclusion: It may be concluded that SLS 3%+NaOH 1.5% with BTB and SLS 2% with BCP may be the potential reagents for the development of an effective cow-side test to detect SCM, as the main ingredient SLS is considerably cheap and readily available in developing countries.

Identification of Bacteria Associated with Post-Operative Wounds of Patients with the Use of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Approach

The bacterial infection of post-operative wounds is a common health problem. Therefore, it is important to investigate fast and accurate methods of identifying bacteria in clinical samples. The aim of the study was to analyse the use of the MALDI-TOF MS technique to identify microorganism wounds that are difficult to heal. The most common bacteria are Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus spp., and Enterococcus spp. We also demonstrate the effect of culture conditions, such as the used growth medium (solid: Brain Heart Infusion Agar, Mueller Hilton Agar, Glucose Bromocresol Purple Agar, and Vancomycin Resistance Enterococci Agar Base and liquid: Tryptic Soy Broth and BACTEC Lytic/10 Anaerobic/F), the incubation time (4, 6, and 24h), and the method of the preparation of bacterial protein extracts (the standard method based on the Bruker guideline, the Sepsityper method) to identify factors and the quality of the obtained mass spectra. By comparing the protein profiles of bacteria from patients not treated with antibiotics to those treated with antibiotics based on the presence/absence of specific signals and using the UniProt platform, it was possible to predict the probable mechanism of the action of the antibiotic used and the mechanism of drug resistance.