Extraction and Preconcentration of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Saffron and Tea Samples Using Magnetite-Sporopollenin/Graphene Oxide

Abstract

A synthesized adsorbent based on magnetite-saffron stamen sporopollenin/graphene oxide (Fe₃O₄-SSSP/GO) was successfully developed and validated for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in various environmental matrices using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The saffron stamen was utilized to obtain sporopollenin, which was then magnetized employing Fe₃O₄ followed by GO to produce a sorbent of the Fe₃O₄-SSSP/GO type. The result indicates that the Fe₃O₄-SSSP/GO is a suitable sorbent for solid-phase extraction of four PAHs: benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chr), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), found in tea and saffron samples. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the sorbent. Taguchi analysis was employed to optimize the main parameters for extraction, such as sample volume, sorbent amount, desorption volume, and pH of the investigated PAHs. The calibration curve for determining BaA, Chr, BbF, and BaP was investigated in the 0.5 to 500 ng mL⁻¹ range. The limit of detection (LOD, S/N  =  3) and limit of quantification (LOQ, S/N  =  10) were between 0.03 and 0.14 ng mL⁻¹. The sorbent was successfully applied to saffron and tea samples with good precisions calculated by relative standard deviation (RSD) less than 8.2% and acceptable accuracy with relative recovery ranging from 73.2 to 111.0% for saffron and 58.4 to 93.0% for tea.