Determination of polyphenolic content in beverages using laccase, gold nanoparticles and long wavelength fluorimetry

An enzymatic fluorimetric method for the determination of polyphenol compounds in beverages is described, which is based on the temporal inhibition caused by these compounds on the oxidation of the long wavelength fluorophor indocyanine green (lambda(ex) 764 nm, lambda(em) 806 nm), in the presence of the enzyme laccase and positively charged gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The oxidation of the dye gives rise to a fast decrease in its fluorescence, but it is delayed by the polyphenol, obtaining a time period directly proportional to its concentration, which has been used as the analytical parameter. The behaviour of several benzenediols and benzenetriols in the system and the modification of the activity of the enzyme by its interaction with AuNPs have been studied. The system has been optimized using gallic acid as a polyphenol model, but the dynamic ranges of the calibration graphs and the detection limits for several of the polyphenols assayed were obtained (mu mol L-1): gallic acid (0.13-5, 0.04), catechol (0.08-5, 0.01), hydroquinone (0.05-2, 0.01), hydroxyhydroquinone (0.09-5,0.03), pyrogallol (0.17-5,0.04). Most of the values of the regression coefficients were 0.999 and the precision of the method, expressed as RSD% and checked at two concentration levels of each analyte, ranged between 1.8 and 5.6%. The method has been applied to the determination of polyphenol content in several foodstuff samples and the results compared with those obtained with the standard Folin-Ciocalteu method. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.