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Surface-enhanced Raman scattering for quantitative detection of ethyl carbamate in alcoholic beverages

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Abstract

Ethyl carbamate, a by-product of fermentation and storage with widespread occurrence in fermented food and alcoholic beverages, is a compound potentially toxic to humans. In this work, a new approach for quantitative detection of ethyl carbamate in alcoholic beverages, based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), is reported. Individual silver-coated gold nanoparticle colloids are used as SERS amplifiers, yielding high Raman enhancement of ethyl carbamate in three kinds of alcoholic beverages (vodka, Obstler, and white rum). The characteristic band at 1,003 cm-1, which is the strongest and best reproducible peak in the SERS spectra, was used for quantitative evaluation of ethyl carbamate. The limit of detection, which corresponds to a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, was 9.0 × 10-9 M (0.8 μg · L-1), 1.3 × 10-7 M (11.6 μg · L-1), and 7.8 × 10-8 M (6.9 μg · L-1), respectively. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy offers great practical potential for the in situ assessment and identification of ethyl carbamate in the alcoholic beverage industry.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (no. 20120101130009) and the China Scholarship Council. Natalia P. Ivleva is thanked for instruction on how to use the Raman instrument, and M. Hanzlik is thanked for TEM measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schools of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Danting Yang & Yibin Ying

  2. Chair of Analytical Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Marchioninistr. 17, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Danting Yang, Haibo Zhou, Reinhard Niessner & Christoph Haisch

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  1. Danting Yang
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  2. Haibo Zhou
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  3. Yibin Ying
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  5. Christoph Haisch
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Correspondence to Yibin Ying or Christoph Haisch.

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Yang, D., Zhou, H., Ying, Y. et al. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering for quantitative detection of ethyl carbamate in alcoholic beverages. Anal Bioanal Chem 405, 9419–9425 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7396-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7396-x

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