Design of Optical Sensor Membrane Based on Polymer Poly(methyl methacrylate) for Paracetamol Detection in Traditional Herbal Medicine

Distance-based detection of paracetamol in microfluidic paper-based analytical devices for forensic application

Whisky adulteration is a prevalent practice driven by the high cost of these beverages. Counterfeiters commonly dilute whisky with less expensive alcoholic beverages, water, food additives, drugs or pharmaceuticals. Paracetamol (PAR), an analgesic drug that mitigates hangovers and headaches, is commonly used to adulterate whisky. Currently, the primary method for quantifying PAR levels is high-performance liquid chromatography, but this technique is both time consuming and usually generates more residues. In this context, the utilization of miniaturized and portable analytical devices becomes imperative for conducting point-of-care/need analyses. These devices offer several advantages, including portability, user-friendliness, low cost, and minimal material wastage. This study proposes the selective distance-based PAR quantification on whisky samples using a paper-based microfluidic analytical device (μPAD). Colorimetric detection on paper-based platforms offers great benefits such as affordability, portability, and the ability to detect PAR without complicated instrumentation. The optimal detection conditions were achieved by introducing 5 μL of a mixture containing 7.5 mmol L-1 of Fe(III) and K3[Fe(CN)6] into the detection zone, along with 12 μL of whisky samples into the sample zone. The method exhibited linear behavior within the concentration range from 15 to 120 mg L-1, with a determination coefficient of 0.998. PAR was quantified in adulterated samples. The results obtained with the paper-based devices were compared with a referenced method, and no significant differences were observed at a confidence level of 95%. The μPAD allowed to determine ca. 1 drop of pharmaceutical medicine PAR of 200 mg mL-1 in 1 L of solution, demonstrating excellent sensitivity. This method offers cost-effective and rapid analysis, reducing the consumption of samples, reagents, and wastes. Consequently, it could be considered a viable and portable alternative for analyzing beverages at criminal scenes, customs, and police operations, thereby enhancing the field of forensics.

Recent Analytical Method for Detection of Chemical Adulterants in Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine has become popular in recent years as an alternative medicine. The problem arises when herbal medicines contain an undeclared synthetic drug that is illegally added, since it is a natural product that does not contain any chemical drugs due to the potential cause of harmful effects. Supervision of herbal medicines is important to ensure that these herbal medicines are still safe to use. Thus, developing a reliable analytical technique for the determination of adulterated drugs in herbal medicine is gaining interest. This review aims to provide a recent analytical method that has been used within the past 5 years (2016-2021) for the determination of chemical adulterants in herbal medicine.

Design and Optimization of Colorimetric Paper-Based Analytical Device for Rapid Detection of Allopurinol in Herbal Medicine

Traditional herbal medicine in Indonesia is still in great demand and popular in society. The Indonesian government regulations state that herbal medicine should not contain chemical drug due to the toxic effect of uncontrolled consumption. Allopurinol is one of the drugs commonly added to herbal medicine for the treatment of chronic gout. Paper-based analytical device is one of the latest forms of analysis that has been widely used for the identification of chemical elements, environmental contamination, bacteria, and many more. In this study, experiments were conducted using Whatman filter paper No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 and Whatman chromatography as a paper, and 9 colorimetric reagents were tested for allopurinol detection in herbal medicine. There were 5 specific reagents that reacted positively with allopurinol and only 3 reagents that can be applied to the paper, that is, Folin-Ciocalteu, Tollens, and p-DAB reagent. The results of the optimization show that the most optimal immersion time was 60 minutes with a drying time of 30 minutes at 50°C. Each filter paper has different characteristic; however, there was no significant difference when all of the papers were used as PAD for allopurinol detection.