A chemometric sensor for determining sulphaguanidine residues in honey samples.

The inclusion complex of sulphaguanidine (SGN) in beta-cyclodextrin has been investigated. To avoid the problem of the low solubility of beta-cyclodextrin in water, solutions of beta-cyclodextrin in urea have been used. A 1:1 stoichiometry and an association constant of 450M(-1) have been established for the complex. A new spectrofluorimetric method has been developed for the determination of SGN residues in honey samples. This sulphonamide is widely employed for honey treatment. The method for the determination is based on second-order multivariate calibration, applying parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). No previous separation or samples pre-treatment were required. The calibration solutions were prepared in water, with concentrations in the range from 0.02 to 0.20mugmL(-1) for SGN. The use of the second-order calibration method in the standard addition mode, using the excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) as analytical signal, allowed its determination in honey samples, even in the presence of interferences, with satisfactory results. The proposed procedure was validated by comparing the obtained results with a HPLC method, with satisfactory results for the assayed method.