Development and application of quartz crystal microbalance sensor based on novel molecularly imprinted sol-gel polymer for rapid detection of histamine in foods.

To rapidly detect histamine (HA) in foods, a novel material for HA-specific recognition was synthesized by a sol-gel process and coated on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor. The Scatchard model was used to evaluate the adsorption performance of the material; high affinity for HA was demonstrated. Based on QCM frequency change, the sensor exhibited linear behavior for HA concentrations of 0.11 × 10(-2) to 4.45 × 10(-2) mg L(-1), a detection limit of 7.49 × 10(-4) mg kg(-1) (S/N = 3), high selectivity for HA (selectivity coefficient >4) compared with structural analogues, good reproducibility, and long-term stability. The sensor was used to determine the concentration of HA in spiked fish products; the recovery values were satisfactory (93.2-100.4%) and compared well with those obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography (correlation coefficient, r(2) = 0.9965).