Separation/preconcentration and determination of quercetin in food samples by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic drop -flow injection spectrophotometry.

A new dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic drop (DLLME-SFOD)-flow injection spectrophotometry (FI) method for the separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of quercetin was developed. 1-Undecanol and methanol was used as the extraction and disperser solvent, respectively. The factors influencing the extraction by DLLME-SFOD such as the volume of the extraction and disperser solvents, pH and concentration of salt were optimized. The optimal conditions were found to be; volume of the extraction solvent, 80 μL; the volume of the disperser solvent, 100 μL; and the pH of the sample, 3. The linear dynamic range and detection limit were 5.0 × 10(-8)-5.0 × 10(-7) mol L(-1) and 1 × 10(-8) mol L(-1), respectively. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) at 6.1 × 10(-8) mol L(-1) level of quercetin (n = 10) was found to be 2.8 %. The method was successfully applied to the determination of quercetin in the apple, grape, onion and tomato samples. Figureᅟ