A novel method for flow injection analysis of total antioxidant capacity using enzymatically produced ABTS*+ and biamperometric detector containing interdigitated electrode.

Application of interdigitated array microelectrodes as electrochemical sensors for determination of antioxidant capacity is reported. Electrochemical measurements with interdigitated electrodes (IDE) were studied in both stationary solutions and the flow system. The method is based on biamperometric measurements using ABTS(*+)|ABTS redox couple in phosphate buffer solution, pH 7.40. During analysis, the ABTS radical cation was enzymatically produced by peroxidase in a tubular flow-through reactor. The performance of bioreactor was tested at different concentrations of immobilized enzyme, ABTS and hydrogen peroxide. The influence of flow rate on proper operation of the bioreactor was also studied. The results of antioxidant activity were determined using Trolox as a standard. The applied IDE detector accomplished good sensitivity of 0.3nA/microM of Trolox and offered linear range between 20 to 500microM of Trolox. The comparison of results (R(2)=0.9915) for antioxidant activity between spectroscopic and FIA biamperometric measurements by interdigitated electrodes confirmed the applicability of the proposed method for determination of antioxidant capacity.