Sensitive detection of trilobatin in tea beverages based on hydroxy-functionalized Ag@COF SERS substrate

As a dihydrochalcone natural sweetener extracted from Lithocarpus litseifolius, trilobatin is an emerging functional sweetener in the international arena in recent years and is gaining attention in the food industry. The detection of trilobatin has also gradually received the attention of researchers, however, the detection means for trilobatin still remain in the traditional high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and other traditional methods, which are costly and have a large detection range. In this work, a method based on the principle of surface-enhanced Raman (SERS) using a composite substrate of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) materials is proposed for the detection of trilobatin in tea beverages. After Gaussian simulation and a series of spectral analysis methods for validation, the functionalized SERS substrates contain abundant hydroxyl groups on the surface, which can be combined with trilobatin through hydrogen bonding and greatly enhance the Raman signal of trilobatin. The specific detection of trilobatin in tea beverages has been realized and the problem of weak SERS signal of trilobatin in liquid environment has been solved. The limit of detection (LOD) of trilobatin in tea beverage was 2.8 nM, and the correlation coefficient (R²) was 0.995. The recoveries were in the range of 100.6∼106.0% with the RSD of 1.756∼4.921%. In conclusion, the experimental method is highly sensitive and specific, and can realize the nondestructive detection of trilobatin in samples with high practical value.