Simple and Cost Effective Polymer Modified Gold Nanoparticles Based on Colorimetric Determination of L-Cysteine in Food Samples

Abstract. The purpose of the present research was to design a method for the colorimetric determination of L-cysteine. We have employed PVA capped gold nanoparticles (GNPs) as a probe. The as-synthesized GNPs were further characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Zeta potential analyser. The results show that the presence of L-cysteine caused the quenching of the surface plasmon resonance band of the GNPs at 524 nm. It was accompanied by the appearance of a new absorbance of a new absorbance band at 670 nm. The color of the colloidal GNPs changed from wine red to blue. The change in color of the GNPs was due to their aggregation induced by the presence of L-cysteine. Based on these observations, the as-synthesized GNPs were utilized to develop a novel colorimetric sensor for L-cysteine detection in food samples. Significantly, other biomolecules such as alanine, proline, phenylalanine, tryptophane, valine, arginine, glutamic acid, lysine and histidine did not cause any change in the color of the GNPs solutions. This colorimetric probe showed excellent selectivity and high sensitivity for L-cysteine with a detection limit of 2.0 μg mL-1.